Binance closes French accounts on 31 December 2026: the 29 November fee and how to move to OKX
If you still hold a Binance account opened in France, an email headed "Rappel important / Important Update" should be sitting in your inbox. It says that deposits fail, that a fee is coming for balances left behind, and that the account closes at the end of the year. We have read the message. Below: what it states, what the fee costs at different balances, and how to move your coins to OKX before the first deadline.
Two dates, the first one less than three weeks away
29 November 2026: any account still holding assets that day pays a monthly fee of 0.025% of the balance, with a 10 USDC minimum. 31 December 2026: Binance France accounts are closed. An account emptied before 29 November pays no fee.
What the Binance email says
The message goes to holders of a "Binance France account". The French version, which we translate here, opens with the cause: since Binance did not obtain a MiCA licence on 30 June 2026, the services provided by Binance France are being progressively restricted, following a schedule sent to customers earlier.
A section titled "Please do not make deposits" follows. Deposits are restricted and any attempt will fail. Binance asks customers to stop trying, to avoid rejected deposits, transaction fees and waiting times before the assets come back.
Then the sentence that sets the deadline: because of the orderly wind-down of activities, your Binance France account will be closed from 31 December 2026, and you are invited to withdraw your digital assets as soon as possible and in any case before that date.
The background is not new. Binance stopped taking new French customers on 1 July 2026, when the MiCA transition period ended. What this reminder adds is a price for staying and an end date.
The 29 November fee, worked out on your balance
The rest of the email, reported on 6 November by the French outlets Cryptoast and CryptoActu, sets out the fee for accounts that still hold digital assets. 29 November 2026 is the calculation day.
- The rate: each month, the higher of 0.025% of the balance or 10 USDC.
- Two charges: the first within three days after 29 November, the second after 24 December.
- The order: Binance takes USDC first, then other crypto held on the account.
- Small balances: if the account holds less than the fee, the whole balance is taken.
The 10 USDC minimum applies as long as 0.025% of the balance is lower, which means up to 40,000 USDC (10 / 0.00025). Nearly every retail account will pay the flat amount, and the smaller the account, the heavier it weighs:
- 15 USDC forgotten on the account: 10 USDC go in late November, the last 5 in late December. Nothing is left.
- 500 USDC: 10 USDC per charge, 20 USDC over both, or 4% of the balance.
- 5,000 USDC: 20 USDC over both charges, or 0.4%.
- 100,000 USDC: 25 USDC per charge, about 50 USDC in total.
These come on top of network withdrawal fees, which you pay whenever you leave. Waiting until December does not save them, it adds 10 or 20 USDC to the bill.
After 31 December: what Binance states and what it leaves out
The email warns that if your crypto-assets are still there on 31 December 2026, it counts as notice of Binance's intention to treat the account as inactive. In its words, this may lead to the conversion, transfer or other handling of your crypto-assets.
The message gives no conversion rate, names no custodian and describes no claims procedure. We will not guess. Past that date, the decision is no longer yours.
Moving from Binance to OKX, in order
Binance moves nothing for you. The transfer is manual, asset by asset, and takes an evening if you do it before the late-November rush.
- Download your Binance history. Buys, sells, deposits, withdrawals, fees. That file carries your cost basis, and therefore your capital gain on the day you sell. Once the account is closed, you depend on support to get it.
- Open the OKX account and verify your identity. Do it before the first withdrawal. Verification usually takes minutes, but do not count on that on the evening of 28 November.
- Compare the two lists. For each token you hold on Binance, check that OKX lists it and note the deposit network OKX accepts. A token OKX does not list goes to a compatible self-custody wallet.
- Copy the deposit address from OKX, with its network, and pick exactly the same network on the Binance side. On XRP, XLM, TON or ATOM the memo is part of the address: without it, the funds reach OKX but are not credited to your account.
- Send a small amount first. Wait until it shows on OKX, then send the rest. A test costs cents on most networks.
- Check that the Binance account reads zero, dust included, across the Spot, Earn and Funding wallets. A leftover of a few dollars is what triggers the 10 USDC charge.
On the French tax side, moving your own crypto from one account to another is not a disposal, so the transfer itself is not taxed. The long version of this procedure, with the most common network mistakes, is in our guide to getting crypto off Binance without losing any.
Open the receiving account before 29 November
Both links open on the European entity licensed under MiCA. OKX if you want a catalogue and a fee grid close to what you had on Binance, Kraken if you mostly buy bitcoin and ether in euros by SEPA transfer.
Affiliate links: we earn a share of trading fees, at no extra cost to you. OKX is not on the FCA cryptoasset register; UK customers are served under the financial promotions regime with a 24-hour cooling-off period and no FSCS cover. Crypto-assets are volatile and you may lose everything you commit. Reading from the UK? See which exchanges serve UK residents, and under what rules.
Why OKX first
Since 1 July 2026, only a MiCA-licensed provider may open an account for a French resident. OKX Europe Ltd has held that licence from Malta's MFSA since 27 January 2025. Among licensed venues it is also the one that feels closest to Binance: several hundred spot pairs, derivatives, and spot fees of 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker at the base tier. The line-by-line comparison is in OKX against Binance in 2026, and our account test in the full OKX review.
Since September 2026, OKX also reimburses some account takeovers in the European Economic Area, provided you meet its security conditions: how OKX Shield works and where its caps sit.
For coins you plan to hold for years without touching them, a wallet whose key you control remains the better home: choosing that wallet and protecting the recovery phrase.
FAQ
Is Binance really closing French accounts?
Yes. The "Important Update" email states that Binance France accounts will be closed from 31 December 2026, as part of the orderly wind-down of Binance France.
What does the fee cost if I do nothing?
At least 10 USDC in late November and 10 USDC in late December, more above a 40,000 USDC balance. An account holding less than 10 USDC is emptied by the first charge.
Can I still withdraw today?
Yes. The email asks you to withdraw as soon as possible, and CryptoActu reports that withdrawals work. Deposits are what get rejected.
Will Binance come back to France?
The email does not say. It ties the closure to the missing MiCA licence, and until a licence in Binance's name shows up in a European register, the answer is no. Do not leave funds on the account betting on a return.
Disclaimer. Educational content, not investment advice. The statements above come from Binance's "Rappel important / Important Update" email, which we have read in French and translated; the fee details (rate, charge dates, order of assets) come from the Cryptoast and CryptoActu articles of 6 November 2026, which reproduce the same message. Check the amounts in your own email. Crypto-assets carry a risk of losing your capital.