- Binance UK was announced in June 2020, but over a year later it is still mothballed
- The FCA stopped it launching last month citing regulatory issues
- Will Binance UK ever see the light of day?
Binance UK, announced in June 2020, was supposed to be the place for British crypto users to trade, an honest to goodness regulated exchange where Brits could trade crypto safe in the knowledge that everything was above board and their funds were protected if anything went wrong. Over a year later and not only is Binance UK no closer to launch it is actually further away following the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announcing that the engine in the Binance UK car, Binance Markets Limited, did not have clearance to operate. Where does this leave Binance UK, and British Binance users?
Binance UK Was Supposed to Launch Last Year
The first that anyone knew of Binance UK was when a Twitter account appeared by that name in May last year. At the same time Binance announced the recruitment of Teana Baker-Taylor to take up the role of UK Director, tasked with “developing Binance’s presence in the UK”.
A month later Binance announced the acquisition of an FCA-registered trading entity through which it could officially launch Binance UK, which it called Binance Markets Limited. While no date was officially announced at the time, everything seemed in place for a swift launch.
FCA Puts the Brakes On
Fast forward 13 months and things look very different. Baker-Taylor left Binance UK in October 2020 to join Crypto.com as their UK manager, which did not bode well for the immediate future of the project, and as 2020 turned to 2021 there was no sign of a launch date. The Twitter feed turned into a continual reel of retweets as the Binance UK machine gradually came to a halt, until at the end of June the wheels fell off:
The Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom has asked us to issue the following statement. In the interests of clarity, we are happy to do so.
— Binance.UK 🇬🇧 (@BinanceUK) June 30, 2021
This very stark warning that Binance UK was effectively banned from operating in the UK came about because Binance had, according to the FCA, pulled out of negotiations over the correct licensing for Binance UK. This left the FCA forcing Binance UK to make the public aware that it was not allowed to operate, including putting a friendly note on its homepage:
The Future Doesn’t Look so Bright for Brits
So where does this leave Binance UK? The platform has been ready, we assume, for over a year now, just waiting for the correct licensing. Of course we don’t know exactly why Binance pulled the plug on negotiations, but with the new FATF rules being implemented left right and center it must be assumed that they found some of the FCA’s requirements too onerous.
No mention has been made of Binance UK’s future, but the fallout of the FCA’s preemptive ban has seen British banks and payment processors cutting off services to Binance, leading to British users being unable to withdraw their funds for periods. If Binance wants to keep its British users onside it needs to come to some sort of agreement with the FCA over its main platform or get back to the negotiating table over Binance UK. The chances of Binance UK ever seeing the light of day are slimmer now than they were a year ago, which could leave British Binance users in a state of continual limbo.
