Security News > 2021 > June > Watchdog bans crypto super-exchange Binance from 'regulated activities' in the UK

The UK's financial watchdog has fired a warning shot across the bow of Binance, and ordered it to place a notice on binance.com scaring off Brit crypto fans.

This seems to have come about because Binance, which is ultimately based in the Cayman Islands, wanted to launch an exchange in the UK using its London-based affiliate Binance Markets Ltd. Since the start of the year, cryptocurrency firms in Britain have had to register with the nation's Financial Conduct Authority and meet its anti-money-laundering and anti-terrorism-funding requirements.

Binance hasn't done this yet, or as the FCA itself put it, Binance has demonstrated an "Imposition" to the regulator's rules.

As a result of that, over the weekend the regulator let the world know that Binance Markets Ltd "Is not currently permitted to undertake any regulated activities without the prior written consent of the FCA.".

That basically means Binance can't, for now, launch its exchange in the UK nor promote its services in Blighty.

Last Wednesday, Binance emitted a blog post bragging about how it helped take down "a prolific cybercriminal ring responsible for laundering $500m in damages from ransomware" in what may have been a move to preempt news coverage of the FCA's weekend action.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/06/29/binance_fca_ban/