Binance Is Facing Regulatory Headwinds as It Tries to Re-Enter UK Market: Bloomberg
The largest crypto exchange in the world stopped offering its services to U.K. customers in October after it failed to comply with a rule change made by regulators last year.
Feb 1, 2024 at 5:05 p.m. UTC:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/VWXDBNAHXVBNNFJOMBYKOPMLUE.jpg)
/arc-photo-coindesk/arc2-prod/public/LXF2COBSKBCNHNRE3WTK2BZ7GE.png)
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is facing challenges as it attempts to re-enter the U.K. market after it suspended services in the country in October, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority last year changed its crypto promotion rules, which require crypto firms to be registered with the FCA to be able to approve marketing campaigns, or to be approved by an authorized third party. Binance had attempted to partner with Rebuildingsociety.com in order to comply with the new rule, but the FCA blocked the partnership.
In an effort to find a new partner, at least three firms who have been contacted by Binance to approve its marketing services have declined the offer after the FCA expressed concerns about the firms potentially working with Binance, according to the people that spoke with Bloomberg.
A spokesperson for the exchange told Bloomberg that it is inaccurate to say that Binance has been rejected by approvers in the U.K. and that it is confident that it will have a "positive update soon."
CORRECTION (Feb. 1, 17:23 UTC): Removes stray "21" from final paragraph.
:format(webp)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/coindesk/6d05e6ca-ca9b-44d0-97e6-b6bdceee3d6f.png)
Helene is a New York-based reporter covering Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin ETFs and crypto exchanges. She is also the co-host of CoinDesk's Markets Daily show. Helene is a graduate of New York University's business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. She holds BTC and ETH.