Binance stops accepting new UK users after regulatory clampdown

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Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, stopped accepting new customers in the United Kingdom after regulators cracked down on digital asset companies advertising to British consumers.

The company announced the policy less than an hour before it came into effect late on Monday, after being blocked by the Financial Conduct Authority last week. binanceThe plan to try to navigate new industry standards.

The move is a blow to Binance's ambitions to expand into the UK market after the rules came into effect earlier this month. The standards are among the strictest in the world as the regulator tries to strengthen consumer protections following the collapse of digital asset prices last year and the implosion of companies such as FTX.

Only authorized companies can promote crypto ads in the UK. Failure to comply can result in an unlimited fine and potentially two years in prison. The rules apply to all companies, whether based in the UK or abroad. The FCA has issued more than 150 alerts on promotions from unauthorized crypto groups in the first week of the new regime.

Binance, which says it is not based, breached the FCA in 2021 and was ordered to stop all regulated activity in the UK after failing to respond to basic queries.

The exchange had partnered with Rebuildingsociety.com, but last week the FCA ruled that the Leeds-based company was banned from promoting crypto services in the UK, blocking Binance's ability to legally trade in Britain.

“We have disclosed to the FCA that we are in active discussions with another appropriate FCA authorized firm to approve our financial promotions as soon as possible,” Binance said.

Existing Binance customers will still be able to use services as usual, but no new products or services will be available in the meantime, the company added.

The development is the latest in a series of setbacks for Binance this year. It has received lawsuits from the two main regulators of the US markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and has lost its dominant control over the cryptocurrency market.

According to figures provided by CCData, Binance's share of the cryptocurrency market fell to 34 percent in September, marking the seventh consecutive month of declines since the exchange controlled nearly 57 percent of the market in February.

Despite the exchange's tumultuous history with UK regulators, it promised earlier this year to make a new bid to be regulated in the jurisdiction.

At this summer's Financial Times Crypto and Digital Asset Summit, Patrick Hillman, then the company's chief strategy officer, said Binance would go "everything possible." [it] “may possibly” be regulated in the UK.

The company has since refused to confirm whether it has re-applied the FCA regime for crypto companies.