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Binance CEO Richard Teng said roughly 70% of EU user withdrawals following the exchange's MiCA-related service suspension moved into self-custodied wallets, with the remaining 30% flowing to MiCA-compliant platforms. Teng framed the migration as evidence that Europe's flagship crypto regulation may be undermining its own consumer protection goals by pushing users toward self-hosted wallets that sit outside any licensed venue's oversight.
Why it matters
MiCA was designed to channel European crypto activity onto supervised platforms with capital, disclosure, and conduct rules attached. A 70/30 split toward self-custody cuts against that ambition: it suggests the cost of compliance, for users, is being measured in convenience and product availability, not safety. Self-hosted wallets carry no AML reporting, no issuer accountability, and no recourse if keys are lost. Teng's framing is self-interested, Binance being the largest defector from the bloc, but the underlying flow data is the part regulators will read.
Market impact
Binance paused several EU product lines rather than chase licenses across all 27 member states, and earlier reporting pegged weekly net outflows from the exchange at around $1.23B during the wind-down. Several EU jurisdictions have since invited Binance to apply for local licenses, and the company has been expanding its Asia footprint in parallel. For European crypto users, the practical read is that the regulated venue list is thinner than MiCA's rhetoric implied, and capital is voting with its feet.
Source: [Binance CEO Richard Teng says 70% of EU withdrawals went to self-hosted wallets, not regulated platforms — Crypto Briefing](https://cryptobriefing.com/binance-eu-withdrawals-self-hosted-wallets/)
Frequently asked questions
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What did Binance's CEO actually say about EU withdrawals?
Richard Teng said roughly 70% of EU user withdrawals after the MiCA-driven service pause went to self-custodied wallets, with about 30% flowing to MiCA-compliant platforms.
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Why does Binance frame that as a problem for MiCA?
Teng argued the migration toward self-hosted wallets shows MiCA may be undermining its own consumer protection goals, since self-custody operates outside the oversight applied to licensed exchanges.
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How big were the outflows from Binance in Europe?
Earlier reporting pegged weekly net outflows from Binance at around $1.23B during the wind-down of EU services.
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Has Binance applied for any EU licenses since leaving?
Several EU jurisdictions have invited Binance to apply for local licenses, while the company has continued expanding its presence in Asia.
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What is the regulatory concern with the 70% self-custody figure?
Self-hosted wallets carry no AML reporting, no issuer accountability, and no recourse if keys are lost, which is the oversight gap MiCA was supposed to close by channeling activity onto supervised platforms.
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