Binance says it will operate under new UK rules despite earlier withdrawal
Binance announced on Oct. 6 that it has launched a new subpage to serve its U.K. customers in light of changing regulations.
The exchange company said that, in compliance with the U.K.’s updated Financial Promotion Regime, www.binance.com/en-GB will serve local residents.
Binance said that U.K. users will only be able to access services that comply with local regulations. That list of available services is nevertheless extensive, as it includes fiat and cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals, spot trading, margin trading, conversions, NFT markets, crypto lending, Binance Pay, and the ICO platform Launchpad.
Binance noted that U.K. users will not be able to access its gift cards, its reference websites, and its news aggregator Binance Feed. Critically, U.K. users will not have access to referral bonuses, a feature that U.K. regulations now explicitly target.
Binance said in June that that its U.K. based subsidiary had withdrawn its FCA registration. The FCA register indicates that Binance remains unauthorized.
The company did not suggest that it intends to register in the U.K. in its current announcement. Instead, Binance stated that has partnered with the FCA-registered firm Rebuildingsociety.com to approve its marketing materials under S21 gateway rules.
FCA rules take effect this month
The U.K. regulations that prompted Binance’s actions primarily aim to restrict how crypto companies can promote themselves. Notably, the new rules mandate risk warnings and ban referral and sign-up bonuses. The potential penalties for violating the rules are very harsh, as they include possible jail time and potentially unlimited fines.
Changes to the Financial Promotion Regime will generally come into effect on Oct. 8. Binance said that it will enact the relevant service changes on that date.
Various other crypto companies have left the U.K. market due to increasing compliance requirements. PayPal, ByBit, Luno, and NiceHash have all stated that they will at least temporarily reduce the services that they offer to U.K. users this month.
