Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said the crackdown on cryptocurrencies has made it “very difficult” to do business in the United States, adding that it now wants to be regulated in the United Kingdom.
The company’s chief strategy officer, Patrick Hillman, FT’s Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets Summit The United States “has been very chaotic for the past six months.” He pointed to the SEC’s action against rival exchange Coinbase for alleged violations of securities laws as a sign that “the U.S. is in this weird place right now.”
In stark contrast to Hillman’s comments that these are “very difficult times” to do business in the U.S., Binance said it would do “everything possible” to be regulated in the U.K.
Binance has previously clashed with London regulators, who said the exchange could not be regulated after it failed to provide basic information about its business activities. The group has no fixed headquarters and provides services worldwide.
In 2021, the FCA ordered the company to cease all regulated activity in the UK, and last year a joint venture partner said it had submitted a “substantially inaccurate” annual report for one of its UK companies.
Hillman declined to confirm whether the company had reapplied to the Financial Conduct Authority’s crypto business registration regime, which covers the company’s process to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
Other groups claim that British officials are being too cautious with fintech and cryptocurrency companies. This week, the head of payments firm Revolut blamed “extremely cautious” UK regulators for delays in obtaining a banking license.
Digital Asset Dashboard
click here Get real-time data on cryptocurrency prices and insights
This year, Binance has been the target of U.S. regulators cracking down on illicit activity.
In March, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit against the group, accusing it of operating illegally in the country and violating the law by broadly soliciting U.S. clients. At the time, Binance called the CFTC’s complaint “unexpected and disappointing.”
The DOJ also listed Binance as a counterparty to Bitzlato, a cryptocurrency exchange whose founders are accused of transferring millions in illicit cryptocurrency funds in violation of U.S. money laundering regulations.
Binance’s U.S. subsidiary, Binance US, last month dropped a $1 billion proposal to acquire the assets of Voyager Digital, a cryptocurrency lender that went bankrupt last year.
Hillmann downplayed the threat of U.S. enforcement action to Binance’s business, saying: “I expect at some point the U.S. will want to pivot and catch up to Europe, which just passed MICA[the EU’s regulation of cryptoassets]which is a step forward.” A big step.”
The EU legislation aims to provide a framework for the regulation of crypto assets in the EU, thereby providing greater certainty to consumers and market participants.
The Binance enforcement case is one of many brought by U.S. regulators against some of the largest companies in the crypto industry.
Among them, Coinbase, which is listed on Nasdaq, is the focus of the SEC’s investigation into possible violations of securities laws. Crypto payments company Ripple is also embroiled in a long-running lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020 alleging violations of securities laws.
Click here Visit the Digital Assets Dashboard