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UK’s financial regulator bars Binance Markets from regulated business as global crypto crackdown spreads

  • Binance Markets has until the evening of June 30 to confirm that it has removed all advertising and financial promotions, the FCA said
  • The exchange must also make clear on its website, social media channels and all other communications that it is no longer permitted to operate in the UK

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Zhao Changpeng, the founder and chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange operator Binance, speaks at the Consensus: Singapore event in September. Photo: Handout
Bloomberg
Binance Markets was banned by the UK’s financial watchdog from doing any regulated business in the country, one of the most significant moves to date by a regulator amid a global crackdown in the cryptocurrency industry.
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Binance Markets has until the evening of June 30 to confirm that it has removed all advertising and financial promotions, according to the Financial Conduct Authority’s register. The exchange must also make clear on its website, social media channels and all other communications that it is no longer permitted to operate in the UK. Binance Markets won’t be able to resume UK operations without prior written consent.

While the target of the restrictions is a separate legal entity from Binance - the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by reported turnover - the FCA edict specifies that the notice must be put on Binance.com and communication channels including the Binance mobile and desktop applications.

Binance Markets “does not offer any products or services via the Binance.com website,” the global crypto exchange said Sunday on Twitter. “The Binance Group acquired BML May 2020 and has not yet launched its UK business or used its FCA regulatory permissions.”

A Binance spokesman said via email that the FCA’s notice restricts, but doesn’t remove, permissions owned by Binance Markets.

The move extends a regulatory crackdown on the cryptocurrency sector amid concerns about its potential involvement in money laundering and fraud. Binance withdrew an application related to the 5MLD - an anti-laundering directive - on May 17 following “intensive engagement from the FCA,” according to the watchdog, which said the action had been in train for some time.
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