Binance Belgium, the Belgian branch of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has reopened operations three months after a ban imposed by the country’s financial markets regulator. On June 23, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) directed the exchange to stop providing services to the Belgian market because the exchange operates outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Binance Belgium resumes operations with new terms of use
Depart from Post on X On September 25, Binance Belgium announced the resumption of operations in Western European countries.
In the post, the Binance subsidiary said it is now accepting new registrations from residents of Belgium. Additionally, all previously registered Belgian users will be granted access to its various products and services if they agree to the company’s new terms of use.
However, Binance Belgium did not give much explanation for this “new terms of use”.
Dear Binance users ????????
We are pleased to announce that starting today, our platform is once again welcoming new registrations from Belgian residents.
Additionally, Belgian users who accept our new Terms of Use can once again use various Binance products and services.
— Binance Belgium (@binanceflemish) September 25, 2023
In August, Bitcoinist reported that Binance was redirecting all Belgian users to its Polish branch to meet regulatory requirements imposed by the FSMA.
This is because Binance operates as a registered Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Poland, a member state of the European Economic Area.
Under this new arrangement, registered users of Binance Belgium may need to go through the know-your-customer (KYC) process again and agree to Binance Poland’s terms of use.
However, in Binance Belgium’s latest announcement, there was no mention or acknowledgment of this arrangement with the exchange’s Polish arm.
Nonetheless, Binance’s resumption of operations in Belgium is an exciting development for its 150 million customers around the world, especially given the global regulatory pressure the exchange faces.
Binance regulatory issues
In recent months, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has faced regulatory hurdles in several countries including Germany, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Austria and the United States.
Most notably in the United States, the exchange disputed 13 charges in legal proceedings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The recent exodus of top executives from troubled Binance US has sparked a lot of speculation about the company’s future.
However, Binance Global CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao echoed these concerns, stating that these changes are needed to guide the exchange through its current troubles.
In more good news for the Binance community, the exchange’s Japanese branch is launching a new stablecoin in partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s (MUFG) trust banking arm and Progmat Token Platform. The new stablecoin is expected to be denominated in Japanese yen (JPY) and US dollars (USD).
Total crypto market valued at $1.024 trillion on the hourly chart | Source: TOTAL chart on Tradingview.com
Featured image from NW Flags, chart from Tradingview
