In Germany, the most popular crypto-exchange, Binance, failed to obtain a license.
Germany’s financial regulator BaFin rejected the application because the regulatory requirements were not met.
Binance in Germany: BaFin rejects the crypto-exchange’s application for license
A setback for the web’s most popular crypto-exchange, Binance, in its European expansion, with German financial supervisory authority BaFin denying it a license.
According to reports, it appears that German regulatory requirements are too high for Binance. Therefore, the BaFin decided not to grant the crypto-exchange a crypto custody license.
Apparently, it also appears that Binance does not want to give up. A spokesperson for the crypto-exchange reportedly stated the following:
“While we are unable to share details of conversations with regulators, we continue to work to comply with BaFin‘s requirements. As expected, this is a detailed and ongoing process. We are confident that we have the right team and measures in place to continue our discussions with regulators in Germany.”
Without a German crypto custody license, Binance is not allowed to advertise in the country. Certainly, this regulatory limitation does not prohibit the use of the app and crypto platform in Germany.
Binance in Germany: BaFin refuses to comment on its decision
The BaFin refused to comment on individual companies because of secrecy requirements in Germany.
As far as Binance is concerned, there is Jonas Jünger in charge as German head of the crypto-exchange, and only for the past few months. Arguably, his most important task is precisely to make sure that Binance receives a license from the financial supervisory authority BaFin.
The company will only be able to expand and advertise in the country with the authorization. In this regard, Jünger, in his first interview with the Börsenzeitung, said:
“The regulatory requirements are rightly high. A license would also be a strong signal for Germany as a financial center.”
A turbulent month
This month of June was quite turbulent for Binance. First, there were the 13 charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States against Binance.US, Binance and also CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao. At present, it appears that the overall situation has been resolved.
Moving to Europe, precisely in the middle of the month, news leaked out that Binance had decided to leave the Cyprus market, applying for deregistration directly with the country’s SEC. Its justification would be to want to focus on larger global markets.
Most recently, Binance announced the withdrawal of the crypto-exchange from the Netherlands. Specifically, as of 17 July, the popular crypto-exchange will no longer accept new Dutch users, but those present will only be able to withdraw their assets from the platform. Meanwhile, in France, Binance appears to be under investigation for aggravated money laundering.
In general, the company said it is streamlining its European strategy in view of the EU’s new cryptocurrency regulation, MiCA.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2023/06/29/germany-license-denied-regulator-bafin/