“Binance’s Android app has already come off Google Play across many European markets,” Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, told Finance Magnates. He described the removal, which followed Binance’s withdrawal of its MiCA application in Greece, as a sign of “where things are heading for platforms without a licence.” More than a month after MiCA’s transition deadline, the divide between MiCA-authorised platforms and those operating without an EU licence is becoming more visible. Before MiCA, between 1,100 and 1,300 firms operated under national regimes across Europe; today, just over 300 hold a licence, according to Ghoos. The regulatory reset is affecting the economics and product range of licensed exchanges. Ghoos discussed the cost of building a multi-licence operation, the shift from USDT to MiCA-compliant stablecoins, and whether regulated derivatives can pull European trading volume back from offshore venues. OKX Says Binance's Exit Filled its App with New EU UsersBinance withdrew its MiCA licence application in Greece on June 24 and confirmed it would stop onboarding new EU clients from July 1. OKX, which has held a full MiCA licence from Malta's MFSA since January 2025, reports a 160% increase in EU app downloads in the 12 days following Binance's withdrawal. That was more than double what it says was the average growth rate across other licensed EU exchanges over the same window. The exchange also reports that inflows from Binance-linked accounts grew more than eightfold in that period, and that it now accounts for roughly one in three app downloads across the platforms it tracks. In a separate review of aggregate exchange balances, Finance Magnates found that OKX's and Binance's on-chain holdings moved in the same direction over the same two-week windows. This pattern is more consistent with market-wide price swings than with a one-directional shift of funds from one platform to the other. This doesn't rule out the migration OKX describes, since balance data isn't broken down by region, but it means the scale of the shift remains unconfirmed outside OKX's own numbers.USDT Volume Shifts to USDC; Euro Stablecoins Are “Worth Watching Closely” MiCA's e-money token rules require issuers to hold EMT authorisation to be listed in the EU. Tether has not pursued that authorisation, which forced its delisting for retail users across licensed venues, including OKX, Coinbase, and Kraken. "USDT doesn't hold that authorisation, so it cannot be traded on our European platform," Ghoos said. In the EU, OKX has directed customers towards USDC, and has built a redemption path for users who still hold USDT and want to convert. Dollar-denominated stablecoins - mainly USDC and USDG - absorbed most of the volume that shifted between licensed platforms, according to Ghoos. Euro-denominated stablecoins remain a smaller, earlier-stage category. "Trading and spending in your own currency removes an exchange-rate step," he said, though he described institutional interest in euro stablecoins as still building rather than established. Ghoos was clear that the framework hasn't been stress-tested yet: MiCA's reserve and redemption rules "work well at current volumes," but whether they hold up as usage grows significantly is, in his words, "the next question for regulators and issuers alike."Most European Derivatives Volume Is Still Offshore, and OKX Is Chasing it MiCA covers crypto-asset services such as spot trading and custody, while crypto derivatives fall under MiFID II, for which far fewer exchanges hold the necessary permissions. According to OKX, this has created a market where regulation solved one problem and left a bigger one untouched. OKX estimates that 95% of European crypto derivatives volume still trades on offshore, unregulated venues. To address the gap, OKX introduced X-Perps, a MiFID II-regulated derivatives product offering exposure to more than 80 markets, including crypto, US equities, commodities, and major ETFs, on leverage capped at 10x. However, the 10x ceiling looks like a regulatory constraint rather than a selling point: offshore venues typically offer far higher leverage, which is why some traders may stay offshore regardless of the protections offered by regulated venues. Ghoos argued that most retail traders do not benefit from the incentives and high leverage offered offshore and are more likely to lose money. However, X-Perps has been live for only a few months, leaving limited evidence on whether a regulated offering can attract substantial volume from those venues. Pulling volume back onshore, in Ghoos's view, depends on two things happening together: regulators actively enforcing against offshore venues, and licensed platforms matching them on product range. Neither condition is fully met today.A Single MiCA Licence Is Not Enough "MiCA authorisation alone is table stakes now," Ghoos said. A CASP licence covers spot trading and custody, but not derivatives, which require MiFID II permissions, or stablecoin and card payment processing, which require a separate Payment Institution licence. OKX holds all three. “Legal counsel, an auditor, transaction monitoring and custody infrastructure can run into the millions for a firm building this for the first time,” Ghoos said. Finance Magnates has previously reported that building this full stack isn't cheap: MiCA licensing alone can run €500,000 to €2 million, with ongoing annual compliance adding €250,000 or more. That cost structure tends to favour firms that already have regulatory infrastructure in place, and this dynamic has a historical precedent. After ESMA's 2018 intervention on CFD leverage caps, the European CFD market consolidated around a smaller group of better-capitalised, compliant operators; several offshore firms relocated, and some retail volume migrated to platforms outside ESMA's reach. It is not yet clear whether crypto follows the same path, but the compliance-cost pressure runs in a similar direction. Enforcement against unlicensed venues is also already underway in specific jurisdictions. France's AMF has warned that firms continuing to serve EU clients without a licence can face criminal prosecution up to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine for individuals. Dutch regulators have signalled similar intent. Ghoos expects further growth to come from institutional capital that has been waiting for regulatory certainty, alongside retail traders who want derivatives without leaving a platform they already use for spot trading and payments. "That's been waiting for regulatory certainty before it moves," he said, alongside retail traders who want derivatives without leaving a platform they already use for spot and payments. “Expect more pairs, deeper liquidity, and tighter integration with the rest of the regulated product suite,” Ghoos said of X-Perps’ next phase.This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.