Binance to Charge 10 USDC Minimum Monthly Fee on EU Accounts From November 29

December 31 Closures and Fees From November 29

Binance will close affected European customer accounts on December 31, 2026, and any crypto balances left on the platform will start accruing a monthly maintenance fee from November 29. The crypto exchange set the charge at 0.025% of the remaining balance per month, with a floor of 10 USDC, and it applies whichever figure is higher. Closure notices have reached users in France, Spain, Italy and Poland, where services have been restricted since July. Deposits are blocked for affected accounts, withdrawals stay open, and the company says customers can keep moving crypto and fiat off the platform during the wind-down. “Affected accounts will be closed with effect from 31 December 2026,” a Binance spokesperson said on November 7, describing a managed process customers had already been told about and rejecting any suggestion of an immediate freeze. The exchange has not published a country-by-country count of the accounts involved.

The fee mechanics fall hardest on smaller balances. The 10 USDC minimum governs every account holding less than roughly $40,000 in crypto. A customer with $1,000 owes $0.25 under the percentage calculation, so the minimum applies and equals 1% of the holdings; a $100 balance faces the same 10 USDC charge, or 10% of the account. Where the balance is smaller than the charge itself, the notices state that the entire remaining amount may be deducted. November 29 is the first calculation date, with the initial deduction scheduled within the following three days, and a second calculation is expected after December 24. Binance will collect fees from available USDC first, drawing on other cryptocurrencies in the account where those funds fall short. Users who withdraw everything before November 29 avoid the charges altogether; ordinary blockchain withdrawal fees are not waived.

Expired Registration Under MiCA

The closures follow the end of the EU's MiCA transitional period, which replaced several national registration arrangements with a single authorization system. France's financial regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers, stated in a news release that the transition ended on July 1, making authorization mandatory for companies providing covered crypto services. The regulator's public register shows Binance France SAS had held national registration since May 4, 2022; it expired automatically on July 2, because the earlier French regime had ended and the company had not received MiCA authorization. Binance had pursued an EU license through Greece but withdrew that application in June, saying it would seek authorization in another member state without naming a replacement jurisdiction.

Restrictions on French customers began in July, when the exchange halted spot and margin trading while withdrawals stayed available, a step we covered in our earlier report on the France account closures. Scrutiny has continued since: an October review examined Binance's use of reverse solicitation, an exemption covering certain services initiated independently by customers. The European Securities and Markets Authority's MiCA register, updated November 5, lists authorized crypto service providers, and Binance has not announced a successful EU authorization. The company says it continues to pursue a licensing route while closing the affected accounts, and its July assurance to users was that they would retain access to the communicated withdrawal options during the transition. The French customer notice warns that crypto remaining after December 31 may be handled under the exchange's inactive-account provisions, which permit conversion, transfer to another custodian and maintenance fees. Recovering assets at that stage can require additional verification. Customers who want their holdings under their own control can withdraw to a self-managed wallet, including card-style options such as Tangem Pay, before the fee clock starts on November 29.

The 10 USDC floor turns a negligible percentage into a hard deadline. At 0.025%, a balance above roughly $40,000 pays proportionately; below that line, every account pays the same 10 USDC, so waiting costs 1% on a $1,000 holding and a full 10% on $100. Collecting from USDC balances first means affected users' stablecoin holdings are touched before any other asset in the account. The open question is authorization: the company says it is still pursuing a licensing route, yet the ESMA register as of November 5 lists no Binance entity, so the December 31 closure date stands.