Binance Is Closing Some EU Accounts Dec. 31: What Users in France, Spain, Italy and Poland Should Know
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Not financial advice: This article is for information only. It is not investment, legal, tax or trading advice. Crypto is volatile and you can lose money. Exchange access, fees and withdrawal options can change with little notice. Talk to a licensed professional before making financial decisions.
Binance is telling some customers in Europe to take their crypto and go. Users in France, Spain, Italy and Poland have received emails saying their accounts will close on Dec. 31, 2026, with monthly fees on leftover balances starting Nov. 29. A Binance spokesperson confirmed the closure date to CoinDesk, which reported the story on Nov. 7. Here is what is happening, why, and what affected users should check.
At a glance
- Who is affected: Binance users in France, Spain, Italy and Poland, the countries where Binance ran locally registered businesses before the EU’s MiCA transition period ended, per CoinDesk.
- Key dates: deposits already blocked; fees on remaining crypto from Nov. 29; accounts close with effect from Dec. 31, 2026.
- Withdrawals: still open for crypto and fiat, according to the Binance spokesperson, who said there is “no sudden freeze.”
- Why: Binance does not yet hold a license under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules, which is needed to serve customers across the bloc.
- After the deadline: crypto left in accounts after Dec. 31 will be treated as inactive, which may lead to it being converted or transferred, per the customer emails.
What Binance told customers
A Binance spokesperson told CoinDesk the exchange is “progressively restricting certain services for affected users” after the end of MiCA’s transition period, and that “affected accounts will be closed with effect from 31 December 2026.” The spokesperson called it “a carefully managed process,” said user assets remain safe and accessible, and stressed that withdrawals of both crypto and fiat are still available.
The fee details come from customer emails shared on X and described by CoinDesk. CoinDesk noted that the emails themselves had not been independently confirmed, though Binance’s terms do allow a monthly dormant-account fee:
| Item | What the emails say |
|---|---|
| Deposits | Blocked for affected accounts |
| Withdrawals | Crypto and fiat withdrawals remain available |
| Monthly fee | 0.025% of the remaining crypto balance or 10 USDC, whichever is higher, starting Nov. 29 |
| Fee timing | First charge within three days of Nov. 29; a second charge after Dec. 24 |
| Small balances | Accounts holding less than the fee will have their entire balance taken |
| Fee order | Taken from USDC first, then other crypto if needed |
| After Dec. 31 | Remaining crypto treated as inactive, which may result in conversion or transfer |
Why this is happening: MiCA
The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation requires crypto service providers to be authorized in one EU member state in order to serve customers across the bloc (ESMA overview). Binance withdrew its application for a Greek MiCA license in June and said it would seek approval in another member state, which it has not named. At the time it said, “We are confident we will secure a license in the coming months.” CoinDesk reported that Binance still does not appear in the European Securities and Markets Authority’s register of authorized crypto providers.
In France, the markets regulator AMF lists Binance France’s registration, held since May 2022, as having lapsed automatically on July 2, when France’s national registration regime ended. CoinDesk said more than 50 providers without a MiCA license, including Gemini’s European unit, were removed at that point. Binance first contacted users in France, Spain, Italy and Poland in June, urging them to withdraw.
Users in other EU countries where Binance had no local entity, such as Portugal, have not been singled out in the same way, according to Portuguese newspaper Expresso as cited by CoinDesk, although they remain subject to the broader EU restrictions. Whether and when similar notices reach other countries is UNVERIFIED.
What affected users should check
This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or move any particular asset. If you hold a Binance account in one of the affected countries, these are practical points to review:
- Read the notice inside your account, not a forwarded screenshot. Scammers often copy deadline emails. Binance’s spokesperson said withdrawals remain open, so be wary of any message asking for a “verification” deposit, your password or a seed phrase.
- Mind the Nov. 29 date. According to the emails, leftover crypto starts incurring a monthly fee then, and small balances below the fee can be wiped out entirely.
- Decide where funds go. Options include another exchange that is authorized in your country, a bank account for fiat, or a self-custody wallet you control. Each has trade-offs in security, convenience and tax treatment.
- Test with a small amount first when sending crypto to a new address, and double-check the network. Sending tokens on the wrong network is a common, often permanent mistake.
- Keep records. Withdrawals and conversions can have tax consequences, so download your transaction history before the account closes.
Binance has had a hard few weeks. Our coverage of the $6.3 billion hack and the withdrawal restart update looked at a different kind of exchange risk. A regulatory exit is slower and better signposted, but the lesson overlaps: access to funds held on an exchange depends on that exchange’s rules, licenses and systems.
Market backdrop
Bitcoin was about $74,468 at around 9:10 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday, Nov. 9, down about 1.9% over 24 hours (CoinGecko). Investing.com, citing the Binance EU closures among the pressures on the market, reported bitcoin at $75,908 on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 8 (Investing.com). Prices move quickly; treat these figures as snapshots, not forecasts. See also our earlier look at bitcoin slipping below $77K.
Related tools
If you are weighing self-custody instead of keeping crypto on an exchange, a hardware wallet keeps your private keys on a dedicated offline device. One widely sold option is the Trezor Safe 3 hardware wallet (view on Amazon), which uses a PIN and an optional passphrase. Self-custody also means you alone are responsible for your recovery phrase; lose it and no exchange can help. Only buy a hardware wallet from the maker or an authorized seller, never secondhand. This is not a recommendation to hold any crypto. Check the current price on Amazon.
Related reading: Treasury Moves to Cut Off MEXC: What FinCEN’s Order Means for Crypto Users, and Binance Hack Update: EIP-7702, the Withdrawal Restart and Is Your Crypto Safe on an Exchange?.
Our take
Binance’s EU exit for these four countries is orderly on paper: deposits are off, withdrawals are on, and the dates are clear. The risk for users is inertia. Leftover balances start shrinking on Nov. 29, small balances can vanish entirely, and anything left after Dec. 31 may be converted or moved under Binance’s terms. If you are affected, read the official notice, ignore look-alike messages, and move or close out on your own schedule rather than the exchange’s.
Sources: CoinDesk (Nov. 7, 2026), including a Binance spokesperson’s statements and customer emails described in its report; Investing.com (Nov. 8, 2026); ESMA’s MiCA overview; CoinGecko bitcoin price, checked about 9:10 a.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. Google Trends’ U.S. daily search RSS loaded on Nov. 9 but contained no crypto topics, so this topic was picked from the week’s top crypto news. Times are Eastern Time (ET). Not financial advice. Images are AI-generated illustrations.
