Key Highlights
- Binance remains committed to Europe despite withdrawing its Greece MiCA license application.
- Richard Teng highlighted rising institutional adoption, tokenization, and global regulatory expansion.
- The exchange is broadening into multi-asset offerings while staying bullish on Bitcoin and blockchain.
Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng has signaled the world’s largest crypto exchange remains committed to the European market despite withdrawing its licensing application in Greece last month, underscoring the company’s broader strategy to expand its regulated global footprint.
Speaking at the Reuters Next Asia 2026 summit on Thursday, Teng discussed regulatory challenges, institutional adoption, product diversification, and his long-term bullish outlook on crypto and blockchain technology.
“Well, so we withdrew our application in Greece, because we actually was, it caught us by surprise, because we submitted a fully compliant application,” Richard mentioned.
Why Binance pulled its Greece application
Teng confirmed Binance withdrew its application under the EU’s MiCA regime in Greece after what he described as a surprise delay despite a fully compliant submission and positive feedback from regulators. He said the decision was made to protect users from a short transitional period.
However, Teng said that Binance intends to stay engaged in Europe. He noted that of the users who withdrew funds following the setback, 70% moved to self-hosted wallets, raising questions about whether strict licensing truly reduces risk. As a former regulator, he argued that bringing large platforms under supervision provides better oversight, AML controls, and user protection compared to decentralized alternatives.
He added that Binance is in discussions with other European regulators and continues to work closely with authorities across the region. He highlighted that Binance is already the most regulated global crypto exchange, holding a “home regulator” license from Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (ADGM), which oversees its entire global user base of over 323 million.
The exchange is betting on multiple asset classes
Teng detailed Binance’s expansion beyond crypto into a multi-asset platform. The exchange now offers petrochemicals, precious metals, over 7,000 US stocks, pre-IPO shares, and tokenized stocks (B Stocks). US trading, launched recently, has surpassed $3 billion in volume, while tokenized US stocks reached over $250 million in assets under management within weeks.
He added that more than 70% of users trading U.S. stocks on Binance are from emerging markets, highlighting ongoing barriers to accessing traditional financial markets. Teng also pointed to continued growth in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and perpetual futures trading.
Why Binance remains bullish on crypto
Commenting on Bitcoin’s price near $61,000, roughly half of its all-time high, Teng described the pullback as part of normal four-year cycles seen across asset classes.
He noted this cycle differs due to user growth (from 6 million in 2017 to 740 million today) and significant institutional participation. New institutional customers grew 9% this year, outpacing retail.
Teng expressed confidence in Bitcoin’s recovery, saying low points represent buying opportunities for long-term players. He cited explosive growth in stablecoins (nearly $7 trillion monthly volume) and 25x growth in RWA tokenization as evidence of strong fundamentals.
Tokenization and 24/7 markets
Teng also discussed the convergence of traditional finance and blockchain. He predicted increasing tokenization of assets, 24/7 trading, and the transformative impact of combining AI with blockchain on financial services, reducing back-office costs, enabling atomic settlement, and improving capital efficiency.
He welcomed moves by NASDAQ and NYSE toward extended trading hours and noted banks like HSBC, Standard Chartered, JPMorgan, and DBS experimenting with stablecoins and tokenized deposits.
When asked about potentially acquiring a traditional brokerage, Teng replied, “Never say never,” citing the inevitable convergence of digital and traditional markets.
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