Binance CEO: 70% of EU Withdrawals Went to Self-Hosted Wallets

Richard Teng, Binance's co-CEO, said at the Reuters NEXT Asia conference on July 9 that 70% of funds withdrawn by European users after the exchange paused EU services landed in self-hosted wallets. Only 30% moved to other regulated platforms.

Binance pulled its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license application in Greece on June 24, citing approval delays. The EU's transition period for MiCA compliance ended July 1. Without a license, Binance could not operate normally in the bloc. European users had one option: withdraw.

Net outflows from Binance hit $1.23 billion during the week starting June 29, a 207% increase from the prior week. The capital left in a single week, driven entirely by regulatory friction rather than a market panic or a security breach.

Teng warned that the shift toward self-custody wallets could undermine the consumer protection objectives MiCA was built to achieve. Self-hosted wallets operate with less oversight than licensed platforms. No KYC. No transaction monitoring. No recovery mechanism if keys are lost.

Regulators from several EU member states have reached out to invite Binance to apply for licenses in their jurisdictions, Teng said. Competing exchanges that already hold MiCA licenses have reported higher activity. The 30% of funds flowing to regulated alternatives represents real business moving to competitors.

For traders in the EU, the landscape is fragmenting. Users who moved to self-hosted wallets still need on-ramps and off-ramps to convert between fiat and crypto. They will likely turn to decentralized exchanges or peer-to-peer platforms, which typically offer less liquidity and wider spreads than centralized alternatives.

The 70% figure is a stress test result for European crypto regulation itself. The rules pushed capital out of the regulated perimeter, not into it.