The UK financial watchdog has ordered Binance to stop all its activities in the UK. Binance, which is the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform by volume, will have to cease operations in the UK by next Wednesday, June 30.
The UK bans trading on Binance effective from June 30
Binance is a company that enables easy buying, selling, and exchanging of cryptocurrencies between and for users. The company was born in China although today it has subsidiaries globally. The UK FCA has issued the order for subsidiaries registered in the Cayman Islands and London, both areas where the regulatory organization has power.
As the UK regulator’s statement indicates, “Binance Markets Limited is not currently authorized to conduct any regulated activities without the prior written consent of the FCA.”
That said, activities conducted from Binance.com will not be affected, this is because it is an independent website and not from the UK-regulated subsidiary. Even so, the UK requires Binance to state on the website that “Binance Markets Limited is not currently authorized to conduct any regulated activities in the UK”. As well as to cease any advertising or financial campaign for British users.
Regulatory times
Why all this? The FCA has declined to give a specific reason as to why they are asking Binance to cease operations. What is known is that they have started a campaign to investigate cryptocurrencies. The reason is none other than the lack of regulation and lack of control. This has often led to cryptocurrencies being used for money laundering or criminal activities.
Binance Markets Limited was established as a company in London last year. The aim was to offer British citizens the option of investing directly and through an exchange in the country. It obtained authorization to do so with traditional currencies after acquiring a British company that already had authorization. However, when it came to requesting authorization to do so with cryptocurrencies, it has not been so lucky.
The British FCA’s decision to ban Binance’s operations comes days after Japan warned that Binance was conducting unauthorized activities with cryptocurrencies and for Japanese citizens. In Germany, the regulator warned consumers in April that Binance had likely violated certain rules when trading.
