Greece adds first MiCA-registered crypto providers; regulator denies Binance-Lagarde report

Greece joins EU MiCA register with four providers

Greece has entered the European Union’s crypto regulation register for the first time, with four Greek providers added. The country’s securities watchdog also expanded its denial of a report that European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde helped block Binance’s Greek application.

Key facts

• Four Greek providers — BCash, Xenios Blockchain Group, Capital Wallet Greece and Piraeus Bank — were added to the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) register.
• Six providers from Germany, France and Slovenia were also added, bringing the register to 359 unique providers.
• The Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) is the competent authority for three Greek entrants, while the Bank of Greece is listed for Piraeus Bank.
• Binance withdrew its Greek MiCA application on June 24 before HCMC issued a formal decision.

How Greece splits crypto oversight

Greece’s first MiCA entries show how the country divides crypto oversight between the HCMC and its central bank. Under MiCA, EU member states can choose more than one competent authority and split regulatory responsibilities among them.

The HCMC is the competent authority for BCash, Xenios Blockchain Group and Capital Wallet Greece, while the Bank of Greece is the competent authority for Piraeus Bank.

Regulator expands denial of Binance report

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 18 that Lagarde had intervened in Binance’s Greek MiCA application. The report said Greek officials had indicated that HCMC intended to approve it, and that an HCMC vice chair told Binance that Lagarde had asked Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis not to approve the application.

In a written response to Cointelegraph, HCMC said no official made the reported remarks and that it received no communication about Binance’s application from Mitsotakis, his office, the Finance Ministry or other Greek government officials. The regulator said it categorically rejects the assertions attributed to it and that no HCMC official had any communication with any ECB official on the matter. Asked whether the denial covered the report that a vice chair made those remarks to Binance, HCMC said it did.

Binance previously told Cointelegraph it would not comment on speculation and reaffirmed its commitment to obtaining MiCA authorization in Europe. The ECB also declined to comment on the report. Cointelegraph contacted Mitsotakis’ office but did not receive a response.

What is still unclear

The Wall Street Journal’s claim that Lagarde intervened to block Binance has not been confirmed. Binance declined to comment on speculation, the ECB declined to comment, and Mitsotakis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

Why the Binance license mattered

A Greek authorization would have allowed Binance to offer services throughout the EU under MiCA’s passporting system, which lets a provider authorized in one member state operate across the bloc. The distinction of becoming Greece’s first MiCA-authorized provider instead went to the four Greek providers on the register.

Sources

• Cointelegraph