Key Takeaways
- Britain financial regulator FCA Bans Binance Markets Limited from operating in the UK
- Binance has until Wednesday, June 30, to comply with the new ruling
- Ban unlikely to affect UK users from accessing the Binance international platform
Contrary to popular reports, the FCA ban is not a blanket ban on Binance but its UK-based company Binance Markets Limited. The British branch wanted to integrate into the local market in the same way as Binance US in the United States.
However, it was unable to get approval from the FCA before withdrawing its application in May. With the withdrawal, Binance Markets Limited (BML) can no longer serve UK clients, according to the financial regulator. The FCA gave BML until Wednesday to comply with its ruling and stop offering crypto services to UK customers.
It is too soon to know whether the ban would make any difference to local traders since they can still interact with the international version of Binance. Binance also confirmed that the ruling had no impact on the services offered on its international platform Binance.com. The FCA however confirmed that it would be monitoring the way that Binance interacts with UK clients.
This development shows that strict anti-money laundering regulations like the ones carried out by the FCA tend to slow down the growth of the crypto industry. It poses significant obstacles for companies that want to settle in its regulated territories. However, these measures do not necessarily prevent users from accessing the platforms.
This brings back the old argument of why there needs to be such strict regulations in a market that is decentralized in nature. The cross-border and international nature of crypto platforms means that authorities cannot extensively carry out regulations.
Do you think Binance’s UK ban will affect the market given its influence in the crypto industry?
