CZ says political intervention forced withdrawal of MiCA application

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said the company's application for a license under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation in Greece was withdrawn last week due to intervention from unspecified political forces. He claimed the application had met all requirements and was on the verge of approval. In an interview with The Block, Zhao stated that two EU countries had wanted Binance's application, leading to a kind of bidding war, but that there were unfortunately also forces opposing it. He emphasized that the outcome was a loss for both sides. When asked about speculation that European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde was involved in blocking the approval, Zhao responded that while he had seen such content online, there were no documents to serve as direct evidence, and Binance had not received any verified documentation.