U.K. Regulators Have Blocked Crypto Exchange Binance
No specific reasoning was publicly given for the ban.
Regulators in the U.K. have placed a block on Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the world.
According to the Financial Times, the country’s Financial Conduct Authority has now banned the service from operating in Britain, including both its parent company Binance Group as well as Binance Markets Limited. No precise explanation was given to the public regarding why Binance has been blocked, but the authorities cited an “imposition of requirements” keeping the platform from running. Binance has since explained that the block from the FCA shouldn’t have a direct effect on the operation of its main website and that Binance Markets Limited has “not yet launched” in the U.K.
The block from British regulators comes just a month after the U.S. Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service also launched a probe into the massive crypto exchange platform for suspected money laundering activity. The two watchdogs are looking into whether Binance has allowed American investors to trade illegally, offering them tokens and securities that aren’t registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and encouraging users to use VPNs to bypass the U.S.’ ban on the app.
Elsewhere in related news, the Metropolitan Police has seized $158 million USD’s worth of cryptocurrencies during a money-laundering crackdown.
