WSJ: Greece blocked Binance’s MiCA application at the request of ECB President Lagarde

The crypto exchange’s establishment could have brought the country €200 million in tax revenue. Greek officials told the EU regulator ESMA committee of their intention to approve Binance’s license. However, the deputy chair of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) said that Lagarde contacted the prime minister. She asked Kyriakos Mitsotakis to reject the application over concern that dollar-denominated stablecoins on the exchange would slow the development of the digital euro.

The HCMC noted that it could not issue a license without Mitsotakis’ support. Binance, for its part, declined to comment on reports of the ECB chief’s intervention.