A message from my bank saying they will not allow me to purchase from Binance

[stompix]

Binance is currently applying for FCA approval which will be incorporated into its UK website (link posted above).

Binance has withdrawn its application, so there is nothing coming out of that.

Binance Markets Limited withdrew their 5MLD application on 17 May 2021 following intensive engagement from the FCA,” a spokesperson for the FCA told CNBC. “The action taken today on Binance Markets Limited has been in train for some time.”

Binance has never in the last past years gone through acquiring a license, that's their modus operandi and I'm surprised people really believe they will try it this time for real.

The FCA said that they can not stop people in the UK from using or trading on  the Binance.com website as its not in the UK jurisdiction so have no idea why they are quoting the FCA to stop people from buying on the Binance.com website. The FCA banned the London based company which was purchased by Binance and are not FCA regulated, They did not ban the Binance.com website as they  have no power over it. 

Why is that so complicated?
The FCA can't stop you from gambling on an illegal site in Bartovia, nor can it shut it down since it's in another jurisdiction.
That doesn't mean the FCA can't enforce a banking ban on all banks registered in the UK preventing them to deal with that website.

Yes, you can access that website, you can deposit bitcoins you can do whatever you like but when you chose to deposit or withdraw through a bank you must comply with the UK regulations and those say it simple! Don't do it or we will block your transfer! And as you can see this is what's happening.

[Hydrogen]

Binance is currently applying for FCA approval which will be incorporated into its UK website (link posted above).

Binance has withdrawn its application, so there is nothing coming out of that.

Binance Markets Limited withdrew their 5MLD application on 17 May 2021 following intensive engagement from the FCA,” a spokesperson for the FCA told CNBC. “The action taken today on Binance Markets Limited has been in train for some time.”

Binance has never in the last past years gone through acquiring a license, that's their modus operandi and I'm surprised people really believe they will try it this time for real.

If coinbase operates in the UK with no regulatory troubles.

There should be no reason binance can't do the same.

There's more to this story than is being told on the surface.

Binance has its UK subdomain up and running:  https://www.binance.co.uk/

Which makes it appear they intend to comply with FCA regulations at some point.

The media went overboard claiming the UK "banned" binance. But that is not what the official announcement said at all.

It was merely stated that binance was not "currently permitted" to operate in the UK. There was never anything mentioned about a permanent ban.

[stompix]

If coinbase operates in the UK with no regulatory troubles.

....is because they have a license:
https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/other-topics/legal-policies/e-money-license

Coinbase received an E-Money License from the United Kingdom (UK) Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and we updated our User Agreement to reflect our new e-money services. For existing customers, the updated User Agreement is effective on March 21, 2018.

https://www.coinbase.com/legal/user_agreement/payments_europe

CB Payments, Ltd (also trading as Coinbase) is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

There should be no reason binance can't do the same.

Binance doesn't have one!

Binance has its UK subdomain up and running:  https://www.binance.co.uk/

Setting up a domain means zero. They could set up one for China or NK, what value does it hold?

It was merely stated that binance was not "currently permitted" to operate in the UK. There was never anything mentioned about a permanent ban.

Yeah, you're banned until your ban is lifted, If you don't get a license to lift your ban you're banned till you get one!
If they don't plan on ever getting one the ban will be permanent!

[el kaka22]

Eventually Binance will be back in UK, they are already working on making it back with a new thing. I do not know what the name will be but it will be something similar like binance.co.uk or whatever and they will have another website where everything will be catering to UK laws and that way they will continue to do that, with a connection to real binance as well where you can send money between those two binances without spending any tx fee neither, it will be quite easy.

So long story short this is going to be no issue in the long run. Let the nations decide on what they want to do with crypto because it is not easy to just say you are ready and support as a whole government, it takes time and some laws and regulations to be able to support places like binance, you can't just let them do whatever they want without any regulations so this is understandable and can be fixed by binance quite easily.

[Cryptoshops]

Binance is currently applying for FCA approval which will be incorporated into its UK website (link posted above).

Binance has withdrawn its application, so there is nothing coming out of that.

Binance Markets Limited withdrew their 5MLD application on 17 May 2021 following intensive engagement from the FCA,” a spokesperson for the FCA told CNBC. “The action taken today on Binance Markets Limited has been in train for some time.”

Binance has never in the last past years gone through acquiring a license, that's their modus operandi and I'm surprised people really believe they will try it this time for real.

The FCA said that they can not stop people in the UK from using or trading on  the Binance.com website as its not in the UK jurisdiction so have no idea why they are quoting the FCA to stop people from buying on the Binance.com website. The FCA banned the London based company which was purchased by Binance and are not FCA regulated, They did not ban the Binance.com website as they  have no power over it. 

Why is that so complicated?
The FCA can't stop you from gambling on an illegal site in Bartovia, nor can it shut it down since it's in another jurisdiction.
That doesn't mean the FCA can't enforce a banking ban on all banks registered in the UK preventing them to deal with that website.

Yes, you can access that website, you can deposit bitcoins you can do whatever you like but when you chose to deposit or withdraw through a bank you must comply with the UK regulations and those say it simple! Don't do it or we will block your transfer! And as you can see this is what's happening.

Its not complicated at all because the FCA have said they can not stop UK residents from " trading or buying and selling of crypto"  on Binance . com   but a few of the Banks here in the UK are using the FCA website link which states it was about the London based  Binance Markets Limited company and not Binance. com   

What is hard to understand that the few banks which are using the FCA as an excuse to stop people from buying and selling are wrong , Now if I was trading on the London based Binance market company which is not  FCA regulated then I would totally understand. I am allowed to trade stocks and shares in the US or other countries without any problems and non of them are FCA regulated because they are not in the UK ...  Now do you understand ...

[jossiel]

It is ok, they have anticipated that there will be a massive loss of revenue from the UK region.

Although it's Binance that's being favored and loved by most traders, you still have a lot of choices to trade if your bank won't allow you to use their service to go through Binance.

I disagree that it's going to be alright because that's still a loss no matter how you look at it, isn't UK region a big market for Binance to just let it go that fast and easy and also, are they planning to become legitimate in UK so they can finally get out of the ban?

It is a big market but Binance is the one that did the cause. They don't comply from what's being asked so that sums up that they've anticipated already the loss on their part with that move.

If they didn't ignored the notice and compliance, they won't be banned and they will still be good to operate within UKs jurisdiction.

[CaVO32]

It is ok, they have anticipated that there will be a massive loss of revenue from the UK region.

Although it's Binance that's being favored and loved by most traders, you still have a lot of choices to trade if your bank won't allow you to use their service to go through Binance.

I disagree that it's going to be alright because that's still a loss no matter how you look at it, isn't UK region a big market for Binance to just let it go that fast and easy and also, are they planning to become legitimate in UK so they can finally get out of the ban?

It is a big market but Binance is the one that did the cause. They don't comply from what's being asked so that sums up that they've anticipated already the loss on their part with that move.

If they didn't ignored the notice and compliance, they won't be banned and they will still be good to operate within UKs jurisdiction.

We don't know what's really going on, but we are not sure if Binance is really not doing anything towards this situation. As they realized that they will lose this market, I think they will start thinking about complying the FCA protocols. Who knows their lawyers are already preparing their docs to comply? Remember, when they see that there's business, they always find a way how to get that market. Let's just wait and see.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

I saw a number of such messages posted by different users on twitter



It's so funny how Barclays Bank UK all of a sudden care about how adults spend their money on crypto yet they allow the same adults to use the money to buy guns, drugs and even gamble it off irresponsibly. Double standards!

[The Sceptical Chymist]

OP, I'm curious as to whether your bank is a big name one or a smaller, local bank.  The reason I ask is because once I had a bank manager ask me in person about a bunch of transactions in my checking account (which was back when Circle used to buy/sell bitcoin).  I told her that they were bitcoin purchases--and they were all for very small amounts--and that was pretty much the end of it.  They might have been concerned, but they definitely didn't prohibit me from having my checking account linked to Circle.

This Binance thing in the UK and elsewhere really sucks.  And on the radio today I heard some politician in the US talking about banning bitcoin because of all the ransomware attacks that have been going on lately.  It seems like there's a (maybe) coordinated attack against crypto by a lot of powerful people and/or institutions.  I'm hoping for the best, but banks have a lot of power and so do politicians.  

Hopefully you can find another exchange to do business with, OP.  I wish you luck.

It's so funny how Barclays Bank UK all of a sudden care about how adults spend their money on crypto yet they allow the same adults to use the money to buy guns, drugs and even gamble it off irresponsibly. Double standards!

It's not funny at all, IMO.  Unless the crypto community stands up to these assholes, we're all going to be in some serious shit if we want to continue being bitcoiners (or altcoiners).  All it would take is a law banning crypto and we'd all be instant criminals.

[magneto]

I got a message from my UK bank saying they will no longer allow payments from debit/ credit cards to Binance.  This is all to do with the UK FCA ban but I thought it was not going to affect us being able to use the Binance.com site, seems I was wrong  Binance will loose a lot of UK revenue if they do not become FCA regulated like Coinbase has done

Nothing you can do about it, unfortunately.

The ban isn't up to the bank to decide. It's from the government and banks are more than willing to comply given the fact that BTC poses a risk to replacing some of their transaction businesses to begin with.

I got a message from my UK bank saying they will no longer allow payments from debit/ credit cards to Binance.  This is all to do with the UK FCA ban but I thought it was not going to affect us being able to use the Binance.com site, seems I was wrong  Binance will loose a lot of UK revenue if they do not become FCA regulated like Coinbase has done

https://www.binance.co.uk/

Binance is currently applying for FCA approval which will be incorporated into its UK website (link posted above).

Services should become available once regulatory terms are met.

Source:  https://twitter.com/binance/status/1409229417415680008

I'm surprised at the crackdown on the part of the UK. There has been so much negative publicity and capital flight with UK finance post #brexit. I thought they'd jump at the chance at expanding business through deregulated crypto.

That's good to hear, but honestly no one should be counting on Binance re-emerging in the UK any time soon.

But that's the beauty of BTC - failures can only occur to third party centralised services and not p2p trading or the BTC network itself. There are still plenty of alternative exchanges you can use, or even OTC trading.

[John Jefferson]

The FCA ban issued by the United Kingdom is clearly aimed at Binance. The purpose may be that the government regulates all trading activities of Binance. This may greatly reduce the income of the United Kingdom. This ban clearly shows the government’s attitude towards cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies are not welcome. FCA bans often mention that retail investors lack knowledge of crypto assets, but I'm sure that most retail investors know crypto assets better than FCA.

[Darker45]

I am also surprised with this. Binance.com is still operating in the UK until now, right? I mean, UK citizens can still avail of Binance.com's products and services? If I am not mistaken, the FCA ban was specifically directed at regulated activities by Binance Markets Limited, since it is the only entity of the Binance group which is under FCA regulation.

As a matter of fact, Binance.com's Updated List of Country Eligibility for the “Pay with Bank Card” Feature is still putting UK under countries whose "users can continue to use the service as normal." I'm not sure how updated it is, though.

The FCA itself is only saying "The Binance Group appear to be offering UK customers a range of products and services via a website, Binance.com."^[1] It doesn't say that the same products and services offered by Binance.com are all prohibited.

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

[stompix]

Its not complicated at all because the FCA have said they can not stop UK residents from " trading or buying and selling of crypto"  on Binance . com   but a few of the Banks here in the UK are using the FCA website link which states it was about the London based  Binance Markets Limited company and not Binance. com   

What is Binance.com?
When you were previously depositing money to binance were you accessing binancemarketslimited.co.uk?

Start making differences between websites and companies!
All the payments you were making to and from Binance using banks in the UK were being routed through Binance Market Limited , I doubt you were sending money to Cayman Island every time. How was Binance being able to send and receive SEPA transfers if they didn't have any presence inside the EU?

Now do you understand ...

My time to ask this question!

[Anonylz]

I got a message from my UK bank saying they will no longer allow payments from debit/ credit cards to Binance.  This is all to do with the UK FCA ban but I thought it was not going to affect us being able to use the Binance.com site, seems I was wrong  Binance will loose a lot of UK revenue if they do not become FCA regulated like Coinbase has done

I guess that's something cz really have to consider if they intend to keep their UK based customers,  this are some of the reason why regulations seem an inevitable part of crypto, Binance  as centralized exchange and will have to comply with this fca regulations to keep their customers if not there will be a lot more people who will be affected and disappointed as well,  this is a clear indication that crypto can not be successful without regulations involved.

[Shenzou]

The Uk banning the use of binance was and old news, and the team was already aware of it, i am surprised that they haven't found an alternative a long time ago, since they would be losing a large number of users from uk, and i am even more surprised that the banks are actually taking an action to prevent users from making transactions with binance, and by the time that they finnd a way to bring it back to uk people would have already found an alternative and won't go back.

[jossiel]

It is a big market but Binance is the one that did the cause. They don't comply from what's being asked so that sums up that they've anticipated already the loss on their part with that move.

If they didn't ignored the notice and compliance, they won't be banned and they will still be good to operate within UKs jurisdiction.

We don't know what's really going on, but we are not sure if Binance is really not doing anything towards this situation. As they realized that they will lose this market, I think they will start thinking about complying the FCA protocols. Who knows their lawyers are already preparing their docs to comply? Remember, when they see that there's business, they always find a way how to get that market. Let's just wait and see.

In an article that I've read, that's what happened.

They didn't complied when the UK government has been waiting for their compliance. They've pulled back their application to be approved by the government and this what happened.

It's the opposite action that the government did to what they did.

[Saint-loup]

Its not complicated at all because the FCA have said they can not stop UK residents from " trading or buying and selling of crypto"  on Binance . com   but a few of the Banks here in the UK are using the FCA website link which states it was about the London based  Binance Markets Limited company and not Binance. com   

What is hard to understand that the few banks which are using the FCA as an excuse to stop people from buying and selling are wrong , Now if I was trading on the London based Binance market company which is not  FCA regulated then I would totally understand. I am allowed to trade stocks and shares in the US or other countries without any problems and non of them are FCA regulated because they are not in the UK ...  Now do you understand ...

But are you able to trade futures and options on binance.com while connecting Binance from UK and being a UK resident KYC verified? Did you try to do it? Because from what I understand of the FCA statement, futures and options markets are forbidden in the UK unless they have an authorization from the FCA.

While we don’t regulate cryptoassets like Bitcoin or Ether, we do regulate certain cryptoasset derivatives (such as futures contracts, contracts for difference and options), as well as those cryptoassets we would consider ‘securities’ – find out more information. A firm must be authorised by us to advertise or sell these products in the UK – check our Register to make sure the firm is authorised.

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

[fillippone]

OP, I'm curious as to whether your bank is a big name one or a smaller, local bank.
<…>

Well, in Italy we are well ahead of this. The second biggest bank in Italy is actively chasing every customer who receives/sends money to crypto exchange to close the account if this activity “not liked” by the bank is immediately suspended.
This happens irrespective of the customer profiling (compulsory profiling of every customer based on financial solidity, economic knowledge, risk appetite etc..etc).

[Mahanton]

OP, I'm curious as to whether your bank is a big name one or a smaller, local bank.
<…>

Well, in Italy we are well ahead of this. The second biggest bank in Italy is actively chasing every customer who receives/sends money to crypto exchange to close the account if this activity “not liked” by the bank is immediately suspended.
This happens irrespective of the customer profiling (compulsory profiling of every customer based on financial solidity, economic knowledge, risk appetite etc..etc).

As heavily regulated institution then its just normal that they would really be having their own control and do whatever they do like as it opposes mostly on governments interest and since this is
decentralized market then its normal that they would really be having this kind of impression this is why im really hesitant whenever i do make use of my bank accounts which would be attached
on crypto earnings for it to be transacted because they can always anytime make an issue and then suddenly locked up your funds and you would need to comply anything that they would asked.
Depends on the countries regulation if neither they are neutral or against crypto and expect these institutions would be following on whats mandated.

[fillippone]

]

As heavily regulated institution then its just normal that they would really be having their own control and do whatever they do like as it opposes mostly on governments interest and since this is
decentralized market then its normal that they would really be having this kind of impression this is why im really hesitant whenever i do make use of my bank accounts which would be attached
on crypto earnings for it to be transacted because they can always anytime make an issue and then suddenly locked up your funds and you would need to comply anything that they would asked.

Sorry, I do disagree.
Other banks in Italy allow their clients trade cryptos. Some other Italian banks actually sell Bitcoins to their clients and provide them with wallets. Real bitcoins, not shitty CFD of derivatives.
Other European banks allow their clients to operate in crypto and sell them their services.

So I would say this is a deliberate, arbitrary choice of said institution.