British Financial watchdog FCA bans Binance crypto-currency exchange

[Cryptoshops]

This is worrying I have a money in Binance   I hope they sort this out I do not want to wake up and find  that  because I live in the UK I can no longer access my account

Binance, the world's biggest crypto-currency exchange, has been banned by the UK's financial regulator.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has ruled that the firm cannot conduct any "regulated activity" in the UK.

It also issued a consumer warning about Binance.com, advising people to be wary of adverts promising high returns on cryptoasset investments.

This comes amid pushback from regulators around the world against crypto-currency platforms.

Binance.com is an online centralised exchange that offers users a range of financial products and services, including purchasing and trading a wide range of digital currencies, as well as digital wallets, futures, securities, savings accounts and even lending.

Binance Group is currently based in the Cayman Islands, while Binance Markets Limited is an affiliate firm based in London. The firm has multiple entities dotted around the world and Binance Group was previously based in Malta.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57632831

[Bttzed03]

This is worrying I have a money in Binance   I hope they sort this out I do not want to wake up and find  that  because I live in the UK I can no longer access my account

Where did you register your account? If it's on the main exchange (international), you should be fine as of now. Binance will probably release an announcement soon regarding users from UK to withdraw their remaining balance. To be safe, just pull out your assets before the June 30 deadline given by FCA.

Another thing that you should worried about is Binance submitting your information to UK authorities.

[Cryptoshops]

This is worrying I have a money in Binance   I hope they sort this out I do not want to wake up and find  that  because I live in the UK I can no longer access my account

Where did you register your account? If it's on the main exchange (international), you should be fine as of now. Binance will probably release an announcement soon regarding users from UK to withdraw their remaining balance. To be safe, just pull out your assets before the June 30 deadline given by FCA.

Another thing that you should worried about is Binance submitting your information to UK authorities.

Trouble is I have locked staking coins in Binance and not worried about them sending my info to the UK authorities at all,  as im self employed and  have an accountant so have to declare all my incomings and outgoings. The thing im worried about is loosing my locked staked coins.

They have said that it wont affect UK users from buying and selling crypto on the website and I did register on the main exchange.

Its strange we were only talking about what would happen if the UK start to ban the big exchanges the other day. I am hoping that this is temporary while they sort it out because if they dont Binance will loose a lot of revenue  from the UK.

[Pmalek]

FCA has not prohibited UK citizens from using Binance, they are just advising people to be careful about the speculative nature of crypto. This is about Binance Markets Limited not having a license in the UK, and the FCA is pushing them to comply with its regulations to be allowed to carry on their operations. As soon as they do, they'll be considered regulated and allowed to do business on UK soil.   

The article claims that UK citizens are not allowed to speculate on the price of cryptocurrencies, but they can buy and sell them.
@OP, don't speculate. Just buy and sell.

This means that people in the UK are not allowed to use Binance's services to speculate, or bet, on whether the price of a crypto-currency like Bitcoin goes up or down. As long as Binance.com is being used, you should be fine according to Binance.

However, they are still allowed to use the website to purchase and sell crypto-currencies, which is not regulated, crypto-currency analyst Colin Stone told the World Business Report programme on BBC World Service.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57632831

[avikz]

This is the lonk from the FCA website related to the ban of Binance in UK.

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/consumer-warning-binance-markets-limited-and-binance-group

It says,

Binance Markets Limited is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK. This firm is part of a wider Group (Binance Group).

Due to the imposition of requirements by the FCA, Binance Markets Limited is not currently permitted to undertake any regulated activities without the prior written consent of the FCA.

No other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorisation, registration or licence to conduct regulated activity in the UK.

The Binance Group appear to be offering UK customers a range of products and services via a website, Binance.com.

Just notice the last paragraph. I don't think even the international website of Binance will continue to operate in Uk.

[masterrex]

Then if thats the case Binance markets Ltd must follow the UK regulatory requirements, and if the situation will worsen I believe Binance will do the right thing because the Binance CEO, CZ is a good person that's why I believe it will be done smoothly, And if the FCA of the UK is going all out on Binance Markets or whatever reason they have to prosecute Binance in the UK the user's funds must be returned asap, This is crazy they are after crypto platforms, Anyway, the article does not clearly explain all about the problem so let us wait and see what will happen next. 

[stompix]

Then if thats the case Binance markets Ltd must follow the UK regulatory requirements, and if the situation will worsen I believe Binance will do the right thing because the Binance CEO, CZ is a good person that's why I believe it will be done smoothly,

Yeah, just how he has done things smoothly with the HK regulators, then with Japanese regulators, then with Malta's regulators...
Whenever it was about submitting licenses he chose to fly away, of course not forgetting to lie every time that things are working out, that everything is FUD and so and so. And btw, how do you know he is a good person? What has made you believe that?

Just notice the last paragraph. I don't think even the international website if Binance will continue to operate in Uk.

They will continue to operate semi illegally/legally depending on how you look, they will move to some other country (on paper), they will claim they have blocked UK customers and that's all, the same trick they've tried with the US version. This is not going to end well in the long run and I wonder how much time is left for them, the IRS and the DOJ are starting to get interested in them so at one point they will have to stop all this running away and try to come clean and robbery regulations.

[oHnK]

The article claims that UK citizens are not allowed to speculate on the price of cryptocurrencies, but they can buy and sell them.
@OP, don't speculate. Just buy and sell.

This means that people in the UK are not allowed to use Binance's services to speculate, or bet, on whether the price of a crypto-currency like Bitcoin goes up or down. As long as Binance.com is being used, you should be fine according to Binance.

However, they are still allowed to use the website to purchase and sell crypto-currencies, which is not regulated, crypto-currency analyst Colin Stone told the World Business Report programme on BBC World Service.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57632831

Thats quite funny bro, the government forbid their citizen to speculate in crypto and just buy and sell. Buy and sell is part of speculation. The government doesn't seem to understand or pretends not to understand investment and speculation although the reason of their policy is make sense to avoid their citizen get loss because of the uncertainty but this cant be true.

[Gozie51]

I guess the whole issue surrounding the ban is about making binance register with FCA which is a regulatory body. The UK is also warning people to be careful with cryptocurrency which is still considered as speculatory. They are seeking to regulate the activities of binance and perhaps the pupolarity of cryptocurrency is fast growing and they want a kind of regulation.

[snipie]

I was just reading the article and saw it was posted 2 hours ago in BBC and thought I will be the first to post it here

The article claims that UK citizens are not allowed to speculate on the price of cryptocurrencies, but they can buy and sell them.
@OP, don't speculate. Just buy and sell.

Indeed, FCA cannot prohibit UK citizens from using the service but Binance's UK division can no longer advertise its service and has to store users records... I don't like particularly the last part rather than "banning" Binance.

[suzanne5223]

The FCA ban on Binance should have happen long ago because FCA never support every investment or crypto related company that's is not register with them and they always banned/restrict them from providing service to the UK citizen.
This is what happened to Binance now, if Binance choose to register with them and follow their rules every will be back to normal.

[avikz]

Just notice the last paragraph. I don't think even the international website if Binance will continue to operate in Uk.

They will continue to operate semi illegally/legally depending on how you look, they will move to some other country (on paper), they will claim they have blocked UK customers and that's all, the same trick they've tried with the US version. This is not going to end well in the long run and I wonder how much time is left for them, the IRS and the DOJ are starting to get interested in them so at one point they will have to stop all this running away and try to come clean and robbery regulations.

That's bad! Running their operations illegally in any country will land them in a big mess with the regulators and enforcement agencies. Moreover, the existing UK customers may loose their funds if they want to stick with Binance even after this directive from FCA. I see FCA has not mentioned any exit window for their existing customers. That's kind of strange and childish behavior.

[Twinkledoe]

The FCA ban on Binance should have happen long ago because FCA never support every investment or crypto related company that's is not register with them and they always banned/restrict them from providing service to the UK citizen.
This is what happened to Binance now, if Binance choose to register with them and follow their rules every will be back to normal.

Binance lawyers should advise that to CZ. They have all the money to address this situation. What are they waiting for? Or maybe, they already found a solution for this problem. We just need to wait their official statement. However, for UK users, maybe, it is better to transfer your coins to other secure wallets out of binance, just to be safe from this ban.

[Cryptoshops]

It seems that the ban is like China, derivatives such as derivatives, margin, options are banned. The UK has been a country that has had an eye on cryptocurrencies for many years. They used to collect information about crypto users at Coinbase.

Coinbase is registered with the UK FCA so no worries with them here in the UK . They just do not offer as many coins  and much lower % rates on staking If Coinbase can do it legally here in the UK then hopefully Binance will become FCA compliant

[suzanne5223]

The FCA ban on Binance should have happen long ago because FCA never support every investment or crypto related company that's is not register with them and they always banned/restrict them from providing service to the UK citizen.
This is what happened to Binance now, if Binance choose to register with them and follow their rules every will be back to normal.

Binance lawyers should advise that to CZ. They have all the money to address this situation. What are they waiting for? Or maybe, they already found a solution for this problem. We just need to wait their official statement. However, for UK users, maybe, it is better to transfer your coins to other secure wallets out of binance, just to be safe from this ban.

It always not about having the money to settle the issue but the number of users the exchange has and the level of demand in the UK. However, according to what was said in the article link provided by the OP, the FCA ban on Binance don't directly affect the customer that uses Binance in the UK

[Myleschetty]

The article claims that UK citizens are not allowed to speculate on the price of cryptocurrencies, but they can buy and sell them.
@OP, don't speculate. Just buy and sell.

Indeed, FCA cannot prohibit UK citizens from using the service but Binance's UK division can no longer advertise its service and has to store users records... I don't like particularly the last part rather than "banning" Binance.

I am aware of the speculation but this thread was about the ban issue raised by FCA to Binance exchange and for that Binance cannot operate on the UK soil until the ban ease when they register with FCA.

[leea-1334]

According to Binance and according to the news articles I have read myself,,, this will not affect Binance at all because they actually do NOT operate in Britain physically. They operate abroad and always have and have a long history of changing jurisdictions to get by the regulations.

This is what I have always been saying about Binance,,, centralized and not working like a regulated entity should.