MEXC Exits France Its Fourth Country Retreat Since September as MiCA Pressure Squeezes Unlicensed Exchanges

Crypto exchange MEXC is withdrawing from France, marking its fourth country-level retreat since September and casting a shadow over the expansion plans of its new chief executive, who has been racing to transform the platform from a memecoin casino into a serious multi-asset trading business.

In an October 28 notice, MEXC said it would gradually discontinue services to French customers, automatically close outstanding trading positions by January 22, 2027, and terminate withdrawals on March 5. The exit follows a familiar pattern: the Netherlands on September 29, then Russia and Belarus on October 20, and now France, a market the exchange could ill afford to lose.

The timing could hardly be worse for CEO Vugar Usi, who took the job in April with a mandate to rebuild MEXC’s reputation. His strategy is to convert the exchange, long associated with speculative memecoin trading and a sprawling list of listings, into a broader platform offering tokenized equities, commodities and prediction markets through a single interface.

A regulatory vise tightens across Europe

The retreat from France stings for a specific reason. The country’s financial regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, blacklisted MEXC back in June 2024 for offering financial services without the required authorization. Rather than pursue a license, the exchange has now chosen to walk away.

The broader pressure is the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, known as MiCA, which imposes strict authorization requirements on crypto service providers across the bloc. For exchanges that built their businesses in a regulatory gray zone, MiCA forces a choice: apply for approval and accept its costs and constraints, or fold the tent in market after market. MEXC appears to be choosing the exits, at least where the compliance burden is highest.

The mechanics of the withdrawal put the burden squarely on users. French customers will face restrictions in four batches beginning November 18, preventing them from opening new positions or making deposits once their assigned restrictions take effect. Outstanding positions will be automatically settled on January 22 based on prevailing market conditions and available liquidity, which means customers could be forced into sales at unfavorable prices and incur additional fees.

Any assets left behind after the March withdrawal deadline will be transferred to a regulated custodian that MEXC has not yet identified. The exchange is offering referrals to EU-regulated trading platforms, but users must open new accounts and move their holdings themselves before the deadline. For anyone holding low-liquidity tokens, that transfer may be easier said than done.

The paradox of a shrinking map and a growing business

What makes the story genuinely strange is that the core business is booming. According to MEXC’s September trading report, tokenized US stock spot trading volume increased 81 percent month over month, while trading in AI-related tokenized equities and ETFs rose 88 percent. The exchange now offers more than 450 stock and index futures trading pairs and over 200 tokenized US equities, alongside its RealStocks service providing access to more than 7,000 US stocks and exchange-traded funds.

The platform claims roughly 40 million users, more than 90 percent of them retail customers. That established audience gives MEXC a real foundation for its diversification push, even as its addressable map shrinks.

The company is also exploring partnerships to strengthen its position. Earlier this month, MEXC disclosed discussions with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, about potential collaboration on market access, trading infrastructure and liquidity. The talks remain exploratory, with MEXC emphasizing its retail strength and Payward bringing established financial infrastructure and a significant US market presence.

What it means for everyday investors

The lesson from MEXC’s whipsaw year is one crypto users keep relearning: access to an exchange is a privilege granted by regulators, not a permanent feature of the internet. If you hold assets on a platform operating in a jurisdiction without full authorization, your exit window is whatever the compliance calendar says it is, and automatic settlement dates do not care about your cost basis.

For French MEXC users, the checklist is simple and urgent. Note your restriction batch date, close or transfer positions you do not want automatically settled on January 22, and complete your self-custody or platform transfer well before the March 5 withdrawal cutoff. Waiting until the final week, when queues lengthen and low-liquidity tokens gap, is how a market exit turns into a personal loss.

For the wider market, MEXC’s retreat is another data point in the post-MiCA consolidation. The era of one exchange serving every country from a single offshore entity is ending, and the exchanges investing in licenses and institutional credibility are the ones picking up the users left behind.