Bitcoin Forum

Japan's Financial Services Agency issued a warning Friday to major cryptocurrency exchange Binance for operating without registration in the country.
Hong Kong-based Binance was operating in Japan through the internet without a license for a virtual currency exchange, according to a Google translation of the Japanese-language statement.
At the same day Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known in the crypto community as “CZ”, told Bloomberg that he had been invited to Malta by the government in order to look at an upcoming bill “favorable” to crypto businesses.
So, there are some questions on this situation. 1) Does it mean that we will be able to change EUR to crypto directly? 2) Which citizens are welcomed? For example, Bittrex prohibited to work those persons whose countries are under US sanctions. What for Malta on this issue? 3) Will this move from Asia to Europe contribute more crypto trading volume in EU countries?

It's quite surprising that instead of complying, Binance just chose to move borders which would be a lot of hassle to do so for a business that big. Japan is already a crypto-friendly nation yet Binance chose to walk away and seek refuge to a foreign country. Anyways, details about their services, primarily the currency they'll deal with and servicing country is still unknown at this point in time as their management haven't released a single statement about the changes the company might undertake upon moving. Usually if it moves to a new country, a lot of features would be revamped, alongside the ToS and other legal things that the exchange is catering/dealing with. So as of now, it's safe to say that it would somehow favor the Westerners in the move to Malta.

Yes this might be a bad move for binance publication since it was more like cryptocurrencies exchanger avoid cooperation with government regarding law and regulation for cryptocurrencies. Malta was considered a safe haven country just like British virgin island and if binance thinking about reducing cost and tax then Malta is a best choice for maintenance and sustain.

I see this move as very smart decision since Hong Kong is become increasingly hostile toward cryptocurrency under the increasing influence of China.And it is not only Binance,but also Hong Kong based exchange Bitfinex which is according to some news preparing relocation to Switzerland.I think in any case Malta&Switzerland have a much better and healthier business environment then China when it comes to cryptocurrency.

1.I think if Binance start to operate in Malta probability to buy/sell crypto for EUR is very realistic.

2.Since Binance will work under law of EU,they will have to adapt on the laws and regulations which apply in this area.EU is under a pretty influence of USA,and if they have some requirements(ban some countries),I have no doubt that will be the case.

3.Such big exchange will probably have a positive impact on Europe crypto trading,and in combination with Bitfinex, things in Europe are changing considerably in favor of cryptocurrency.

It already is, about 200 million daily volume above Huobi

I don't think that China has influence over Japan. I'm not saying that they are hostile against each other, but each one of them have been in the opposite side for many years so I doubt that China-Japan relationships in terms of crypto has something to do with Binance moving to Malta.

Perhaps Binance really felt the pressure that the Japanese government is putting on them. As far as I can remember, there have been serious talks of Japanese exchanges sharing information with banks, so maybe Binance doesn't want to share this information or maybe there are deep reasons that really forced them to go and seek in Malta.

I would not totally reject idea that China somehow influences Japan's decisions regarding currency exchanges.If we remember fairly recent hack of Japanese exchange Coincheck which is lost over 500$ million in NEM coins,after that Japanese financial institutions launched a major operation on all exchanges in country which aims to check stability and safety of each exchange.

Today we see that many do not meet the criteria required for work and they are stop working.When we add this to the rejection of Japanese institutions to issue a license to Binance, there is a reasonable doubt that the Chinese are responsible for Coincheck hack and maybe even for Japanese "NO" to Binance.

It should be kept in mind that China is repeatedly emphasized that after "problem" with cryptocurrency is solved in China,they will focus attention in solving this problem beyond the boundaries of China.

It may not be a direct link between the two countries but I see that Japanese might have learn a thing or two from the Chinese regarding closing their local exchanges. Remember last year, PBoC halt temporary some top Chinese exchanges of suspension on manipulating trading volumes. So Japanese authorities doesn't want that to happened, so they require every trading platform to at least see how they operate and lay the books on the table. However, it looks like Binance doesn't want to do it, so they decided to move somewhere else.

There might be pressure, but I'm sure that the Japanese government just want to ensure that everything is in order because they don't want another Coincheck hack, although they promise to return back the funds, everyone should learn from their mistakes so I totally understand their hard stance which Binance doesn't like. So let see how it pans out. They have set the precedence, so I wouldn't be surprise if we see other trading platform moving to a more crypto friendly nation like Malta or Switzerland.

we dont know exactly what the problem, but it is definitely a move for better future. because we know china always want to imitate success that is in japan by producing their own what they want. and i think this is pure business competition

There's nothing new with that.

Most of the exchanges operate without a license. HitBTC for example, they don't even state at what country they operate, and never claimed to have any license.
I also think that unregulated exchanges have bigger chances of staying up for a long time.
We have already seen chinese exchanges are getting closed because they were suspected to " Faking volume" by  the regulator who gave them the license to operate.

Malta is only geographically located in the EU. But they have very loyal tax legislation. We all think that Japan supports the use of cryptocurrencies, but it is not. Perhaps all cryptocurrency exchanges will be registered in offshore zones and this is the only chance for all bitcoin users to restore the popularity of cryptocurrencies.

it is undeniable that because of some requirements impose on Japan to ensure that all crypto exchanges in their country are free from fraudulent activities, but it doesn't mean that it is a reason behind why Binance move to another country, it's their prerogative or what we called a right not divulge their book of records to protect their integrity as held of being the most trusted exchange in crypto world.

I'm hearing the same rumors - that Binance will move from Japan to Malta or Switzerland. Both European countries are crypto-friendly.
Malta will be the better choice for us as it's EU member state while Switzerland is not.

I don't know much about Japan but It's not because a country is trying to set up some legislation that it doesn't support the topic. Regulation of technology is a trending topic, it's what we call "Regtech"
Additionally "offshore", as we know it, doesn't exist anymore since Panama papers and even before. The banking privacy doesn't really exist anymore unless you use some illegal or not ethics values.

Binance is the backbone of cryptocurrencies we can see many companies got affected by regulatory rules and their authority power so now binance is creating their own legality with many blockchain friendly country

There are no signs currently that Binance is actually going to move from Hong Kong to Malta yet. Even though they were essentially removed from the Japanese markets, they are still able to operate currently from Hong Kong to reach the rest of the world.

However, if there were talks about favourable legislation and regulation towards them in Malta, then it could happen.

The only problem would be that even if Malta offered them good conditions for running their business, it's very unlikely that the rest of the world's governents, where most of their customer base is located, would all of a sudden follow suit altogether. It really depends on whether Hong Kong actually starts limiting crypto in the future, which there is no signs of currently.

Well I don't blamme Binance for moving to a more crypto friendly country. You see in these countries that have harsher stances towards crypto ar ealways changing their regulations and I think Binance wants a nice streamlined and clean cut place where it can thrive and do business. If i was a business person and my coutnry made it extremeley difficult for me to exist, I would up and go as well. Now the world is our oyster, everyone moves aroudn if their lives are going to be better.

They have already publicly declared that thanks to Malta opening, they will open for USD and EUR pairing soon.

Most of big exchanges are opening multi-offices between countries.
So, this is not really a "big news".
Having an office in Malta, could help a lot for EUR trades in all european countries.

That's not very good news. I think that the Binance exchange does not want to pay taxes, that's why he left the country where the rules on taxation and regulation of cryptocurrency were introduced. For Japan, this is the right decision, because it stabilizes their economy. Because of last year's events in 2017, when the influx of foreign currency went very large, and the state in the Treasury a penny. Then for the country's economy is a complete zero. Then what is the interest in giving this opportunity for free??? Earlier I heard that in Japan there are restrictions on transfers of foreign currencies, over the limit, the tax is paid. I think that's right for they. And Binance and in the offshore zone will work well, do not worry about it.

By the way, and here is the same post on the forum where I saw this message.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3261749.0

Companies are always looking for places which are best for their business, and in this case tax rate in Japan is too high for cryptocurrency business and they regulation are maybe too tightly for Binance. If someone offers you better business terms in another country why not accept that? This move will only enable company to allow users to buy/sell crypto with fiat, and that's something they miss in their business.

When this happens Binance will become serious competition to Coinbase, I guess many will switch to Binance for buying/selling crypto with fiat.


Voidcrafter, there is option to Edit Post, no need to quote yourself in new post just to add link.