Most EU users who pulled funds from Binance after the MiCA transition moved into self-hosted wallets rather than to regulated rivals, co-CEO Richard Teng said. He framed the roughly 70/30 split as a warning that the rules push users beyond regulator oversight, while licensed exchanges court the departing traders with cash bonuses.
Roughly 70% of the EU users who withdrew funds from Binance after the MiCA transition moved their crypto into self-hosted wallets, while only about 30% flowed to MiCA-regulated entities. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng revealed the figure at the Reuters NEXT Asia summit in Singapore on July 9.
Teng turns the split into a warning
Teng, a former regulator himself, framed the numbers as a warning shot at the EU. He argued that pushing users toward self-hosted wallets undercuts the consumer protection MiCA was designed to deliver, because non-custodial wallets fall outside the AML and KYC controls that licensed exchanges must run.
The 70/30 figure is Binance's own data, and it comes with obvious self-interest given the exchange's exclusion from the bloc. Supporters of self-custody read the same numbers differently: holding your own keys removes counterparty risk, and many see direct control as the point of crypto rather than a loophole.
A regulatory setback triggered the exodus
The outflows trace back to Binance's own regulatory stumble. The exchange withdrew its MiCA license application in Greece on June 24, after reports the Greek regulator was preparing to reject it. With no license by the July 1 deadline, Binance stopped serving new EU customers and began restricting services, forcing existing users to move their balances.
The result was Binance's heaviest weekly outflows in more than three years. Net outflows hit roughly $1.23 billion in the week beginning June 29 — up about 207% from the prior week, according to DefiLlama data reviewed by Cointelegraph.
Licensed exchanges court the leavers
Regulated platforms treated the deadline as an opening and competed hard for every migrating account. OKX Europe rolled out a "Time to Switch" campaign with deposit bonuses of up to 8%, paid over 52 weeks, plus 400 euros in BTC welcome rewards for new users. Coinbase countered with a transfer bonus of up to 5% for users moving funds before mid-July.
These offers target established capital rather than newcomers, because every migrated account becomes a durable source of trading volume, staking balances and fees. Teng's 70/30 split points to a deeper shift, though: many Europeans are choosing to hold assets directly rather than swap one exchange for another.
Source: CryptoTicker
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
