Why was Binance banned in the US?

 This is yet another sign of regulators getting tough on the cryptofinance world, accused of “illegal activities, such as money laundering and fraud, ” reports the Financial Times.

As of Wednesday, June 30, Binance, one of the main cryptocurrency exchanges, is prohibited from “any regulated activity in the  United Kingdom”, announced on Saturday, June 26 the British financial market authority, the FCA, which has also warned investors against the holding company registered in the Cayman Islands (and found in China) as well as its subsidiary Binance Markets Limited, which is headquartered in London.

Binance, “a sprawling digital asset company with subsidiaries all over the world,” was quick to say it was taking the matter “very seriously” but that the FCA notice “didn't count.” 

no impact on services provided by Binance.com”, the ban only applies to operations of Binance Markets Limited carried out on the UK market, i.e. options or futures and not exchanges of cryptocurrencies. Its subsidiary had requested authorization from the Stock Exchange two months ago, but withdrew it, according to sources cited by the financial daily, following pressure from the British regulator.

Germany, Japan, and now the UK

Binance, “one of the major players in the emerging cryptocurrency market”, offers an array of services ranging from cryptocurrency conversion to cryptocurrency futures, savings accounts, and other loans. The platform would have recorded, according to the index of the specialized media The Block Crypto, transactions equivalent to 1.5 billion dollars last month (1.3 billion euros approximately).

The FCA's decision comes after Japan's financial services agency issued a warning last week that Binance was "operating in illegal cryptocurrency transactions". In April, it was in Germany that the platform was accused by the regulator of “probably violating securities rules”.