Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform has revealed her intention to expand to the U.K and become a registered U.K firm in the timeline of the next six to eighteen months in a statement released by the platform’s CEO, despite trading and exchange shutdown orders issued earlier this year in June by the U.K regulatory body.
The U.K regulatory body- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)- at the moment frowns at most cryptocurrency related services including advertising and selling investments in cryptocurrency assets and exchanges amongst others , consequently it has imposed a list of requirements to be met and stated that its express permission must be obtained before any of such activities can be properly regulated in Britain. In the FCA August 2021 issue , it has stated that with respect to the imposed requirements on Binance Markets Limited, the Exchange has complied with all aspects of the requirement but Binance is still unable to conduct any business in the U.K.
The delay of Binance operations in the U.K can be considered as such as collateral damage in the FCA’s clampdown on crypto exchanges and related service providers.
Binance’s target of being a registered crypto firm in the U.K will facilitate the world’s foremost cryptocurrency exchange to provide a broader spectrum of services and related investment opportunities once it has overcome completely the imposed regulations that has effectively crippled the cryptocurrency industry in the country.
To accomplish these requirements and meet the stipulated timeline, Binance’s CEO Zhao Changpeng has hinted that the company was considering the establishment of an individual stand-alone company to run in the U.K similar to its U.S subsidiary.
Since the notice in June, Binance, according to CEO Zhao Changpeng, has hired a couple hundred ‘expert’ employees from the U.K to staff an office in the U.K to facilitate the approval of the FCA license which the company will subsequently submit an application for.
With approval from the FCA, Binance has the capability of offering products and services which include other crypto derivatives which the regulatory body is clamping down on at the moment.
FCA And Its Stand On Crypto Assets
The FCA has expressed its stand on crypto assets and cryptocurrency derivative services stating that while it doesn’t regulate crypto assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum, it strictly regulates the certain derivatives which include futures contracts, contracts for difference and options, as well as those crypto assets it would consider ‘securities’.
The FCA stated that a firm must be authorized by it to advertise or sell these products in the UK. As a result, the ban on Binance is not a targeted ban but an effect of the rigorous regulations by the firm in the industry generally.
Once the ‘hurdles listed in its regulations have been overcome, then said overcomer can be set to be a registered firm in the U.K setting up a precedence in the industry and breaking the ‘ice’ which is the FDA.
