Investors Ignore Canada, Japan, UK News as BNB Climbs Higher
Binance coin (BNB) price keeps increasing despite the warnings issued to crypto exchange Binance in two countries in a few days, and the company closing shop in a third country.
The fourth coin by market capitalization, BNB, is up 2.5% in a day, trading at USD 289 at 7:20 UTC. It jumped 6.5% before midnight on June 27, and the total of almost 7% until the current price, at the moment still climbing higher. Meanwhile, BNB is down 15% over the past seven days.
“Regrettably, Binance can no longer continue to service Ontario-based users,” said the exchange’s June 25 announcement. “As part of our continuing compliance efforts, Binance has updated its Terms of Use to provide that” Ontario is now a restricted jurisdiction, effective just a day later, on June 26.
Indeed, the eligibility section now states that by “registering to use a Binance Account, you represent and warrant that […] you are neither a US User nor an Ontario (Canada)-based User; nor are you acting on behalf of a US User or Ontario (Canada)-based User.”
This comes as the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) issued statements of allegations against crypto exchanges ByBit, KuCoin, and Poloniex, alleging that they failed to comply with regulations.
That wasn’t all of regulatory hurdles for Binance.
Japan’s securities regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), issued a warning, dated June 25, indicating that Binance Holdings Limited has been providing crypto exchange services to Japanese customers without registration.
As reported, in December 2020, CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao didn’t rule out launching a Japanese branch, but he indicated that the prospects of opening a Binance platform in Tokyo were “unlikely.”
Also in 2020, the company had said Binance.com would “phase out” the service to Japanese residents.
Furthermore, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning on June 26 that Binance Markets Limited (BML), a part of a wider Binance Group, and “authorized for specific activities and product types,” isn’t permitted to operate in the UK. “No other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorization, registration or license to conduct regulated activity in the UK,” it said, adding that the Group “appear to be offering UK customers a range of products and services via a website, Binance.com.”
The exchange, however, would not close shop this time. It said that BML is “a separate legal entity and does not offer any products or services via the Binance.com website.” It further added that the notice has “no direct impact” on the services this website provides, and that their relationship with the users didn’t change.
Many in the Cryptoverse described this news as FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt), claiming that, while MBL and specific regulated activities might be banned, Binance.com is not, and can still be used by those in the UK.
“Both BNB and BTC are green compared to this time 24 hours ago suggesting the crypto market in the UK is fairly insignificant to the greater picture,” argued another Redditor.
Binance’s 24h trading volume, per CoinGecko, is USD 14.8bn.
However, in the US, Binance is reportedly under investigation by the US Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Officially, the federal agencies haven’t accused Binance of wrongdoing.
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Learn more:
– The UK and US Clamping Down On Crypto Trading – It’s Not Yet A Big Deal
– ‘Big News In Global Crypto Policy’ As FATF Kicks The Can Towards October
