Binance seems be preparing their departure from Cyprus. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission has marked Binance Cyprus Limited as “under delisting review” on its website.
Previously, the cryptocurrency exchange received Class 3 registration as a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) in Cyprus in October 2022. At the time, Binance called the registration another milestone in its regulatory efforts in Europe and announced that it would seek registrations. similar for their local entities in France, Italy and Spain.
Class 3 is the highest level of service provision in the island country and allows the exchange to hold crypto assets, provide staking services, manage investment portfolios, and perform a host of other functions, in addition to providing a trading platform. Despite this, Reuters reportedciting an unnamed source from the regulator, that Binance, in fact, never started servicing Cyprus.
A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph:
“We are working hard to prepare our business to be fully compliant with MiCA when it comes into effect in the next 18 months. To that end, we have taken the decision to scale back our efforts in Cyprus to focus on fewer EU regulated entities. , especially in our largest registered markets.”
The Cypriot regulator lists nine registered CASPs on its website, including Binance. Others include eToro and a Revolut entity. However, it has been reported that other exchanges, such as Crypto.com and Gemini, are registering in Cyprus.
The cryptocurrency sector is preparing for the entry into force next year of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation of the European Union (EU). Since Cyprus is a member of the EU, the rules of the MiCA law will allow Binance to “pass” its registration from other European regulators through the countries subject to the new legislation.
BINANCE’S CYPRUS UNIT HAS APPLIED TO DEREGISTER AS CRYPTO ASSET SERVICE PROVIDER IN CYPRUS – SECURITIES REGULATOR WEBSITE
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) June 14, 2023
Binance, Binance.US and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, were sued by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 5 for 13 charges including unregistered sales of securities and lack of license to operate an exchange. values.
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