Binance France will close every customer account on December 31, 2026. Deposits are already switched off. From November 29, anyone still holding assets pays a monthly fee. The reason is MiCA: Binance never secured the licence it needed by the June 30 deadline, and the French entity is now being wound up. Spanish users got their own warning email on November 6, with the same fee threat and the same deadline. Here is what French and Spanish users need to do, what the fees look like, and who is next.
What Binance France announced
Emails started landing in French inboxes on November 6. The message was blunt: due to the orderly cessation of activities, Binance France accounts close as of December 31, 2026. Deposits in fiat and crypto are no longer possible.
The fee is the detail that matters. From November 29, every account that still holds assets pays a monthly management fee of 0.025% of the balance or 10 USDC, whichever is higher. Binance takes it from USDC first. If there is not enough USDC, it dips into whatever other crypto sits in the account. The first deduction comes within three days of November 29, the second after December 24.
Withdraw everything before November 29 and you pay nothing. Leave assets past December 31 and Binance says they may be converted, transferred or otherwise handled under its Terms of Service. In plain words, do not test that.
This applies to accounts held with the French legal entity. Binance’s global platform keeps running. Reports put the affected user base at around two million people, though Binance has not confirmed a number.
How Binance lost France
MiCA became mandatory for every crypto service provider in the EU on June 30, 2026. One licence from one member state unlocks all 27 countries. Binance spent well over a year trying to get that licence through Greece, then withdrew the application on June 24, days before the deadline.
Users in France, Italy, Spain and Poland received emails that same week. From July 1 they could only close positions and withdraw. New orders, deposits and Earn products stopped. Binance insisted it was not leaving Europe and expected a licence in another member state within months. Four months later it holds none, and the French account closure is the first hard date.
We walked through the licensed survivors and the losers in our Binance alternatives list when the deadline passed. That list is now the exit map for French users.
Binance Spain got the same email
Binance Spain S.L. entered wind-down on July 1 too. Since then Spanish residents can only sell to euros or USDC and withdraw. Spain’s regulator, the CNMV, said there would be no exceptions or extensions for firms without MiCA authorisation.
On November 6, the same day French users were told their accounts would close, Binance Spain account holders received an email titled “Important: new fees may apply to your Binance account.” The message reminds users that services are being restricted progressively and asks them, in bold, not to make deposits. Screenshots circulating on X show the same November 29 date and the same fee structure as France: withdraw before the 29th or pay a monthly charge on whatever stays behind.
One thing Spain does not have yet is a published closure date. France got December 31. Spain got the fee warning first. Based on how Binance has sequenced this, the closure email is the next one in the inbox. Treat November 29 as your hard deadline either way.
What to do before November 29
Move first, then decide where to trade later. That order matters.
Start with the fee deadline. Withdraw all assets from Binance France or Binance Spain before November 29 and the whole fee question goes away. Convert dust to USDC first, since tiny balances in random tokens may not be withdrawable on their own.
Choose your destination before you withdraw. A hardware wallet or a self-custody wallet you control is the cleanest landing spot. If you want to keep trading, pick a MiCA-licensed exchange, open and verify the account first, and only then send funds. Do not withdraw to an exchange address you have not confirmed.
Export your trade history now. Once the account closes you may lose access to statements you need for tax filing in France or Spain.
Watch for scams. Every exchange shutdown brings fake “Binance support” emails and recovery offers. Binance communicates through its official app and verified email domain, nowhere else.
Where French and Spanish users can move
OKX’s founder spent Friday publicly inviting Binance France users over, which tells you how much the licensed exchanges want this traffic. The real question is which licensed venue fits you.
Bybit EU holds a MiCA licence through Austria’s FMA and serves EEA residents on a dedicated platform. It is our main pick for European traders, and the Bybit EU sign-up carries our referral benefits. OKX is licensed through Malta and is the other serious option for derivatives and liquidity. You can register through our OKX link. We compare the two head to head in Bybit vs OKX, and if you want to see how OKX stacks up against the exchange you are leaving, read OKX vs Binance.
Kraken is the conservative choice, licensed and operating in the EU for years. Kraken suits users who want a bank-like exchange over leverage. For traders who would rather skip custodians entirely, Hyperliquid is a non-custodial perp DEX outside MiCA’s licensing scope, and your funds never sit on a company’s balance sheet.
For a fuller ranking with regulatory notes per exchange, our guide to the best crypto exchanges in Europe covers every licensed pick.
Why this matters beyond France and Spain
Binance is still the largest exchange in the world, yet it has now lost its EU retail business one country at a time. The October hack, which we covered in our Binance hack post mortem, added security questions on top of the regulatory ones. An exchange facing both at once is not where European users should park funds while they wait for a licence that may never arrive.
Our standing rule applies here as it does in every exchange crisis. If withdrawals are open, use them. Sit in self-custody, watch how the company responds, and decide later whether to go back.
Keep This Content Free
Binance paid us a referral share for years, and we still called the EU exit the way we saw it. Independent coverage like this runs on the partners who actually pay fairly, so if you are moving funds anyway, sign up to Bybit EU or OKX through our links. Same account, same fees for you, and it keeps the warnings coming. Once you have landed, the trading airdrops hub rounds up every exchange bonus and points program worth your volume right now.
Final Words
Binance France closes on December 31 and starts charging fees on November 29. Binance Spain users received the same fee warning on the same day. Withdraw before the 29th and you owe nothing in either country. Pick your destination first, verify it, then transfer. We will update this post when Binance publishes a closure date for Spain or sends the next email to Italy and Poland.
FAQ
Is Binance France shutting down?
Yes. Binance France will close all customer accounts on December 31, 2026 after failing to obtain a MiCA licence. Deposits are already suspended and a monthly fee applies from November 29.
What is the Binance France fee?
From November 29, accounts still holding assets pay 0.025% of the balance per month or 10 USDC, whichever is higher. It is deducted from USDC first, then other crypto. Withdraw everything before November 29 to avoid it.
Is Binance Spain closing too?
Binance Spain has been restricted to selling and withdrawing since July 1, 2026. On November 6 it emailed users warning that new fees may apply and asking them not to deposit, mirroring the French notice with a November 29 cutoff. No closure date for Spain has been published yet.
Can I still use Binance from France or Spain?
Only to close positions and withdraw. New deposits, orders and Earn products stopped on July 1. French accounts disappear entirely after December 31.
Where should Binance France users move their crypto?
To a self-custody wallet, or to a MiCA-licensed exchange such as Bybit EU, OKX or Kraken. Open and verify the new account before withdrawing from Binance.
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