Binance, the most popular crypto-exchange, appears to want to leave Cyprus, applying directly to the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (or CySEC) for deregistration.
Summary
Binance applies to cancel its registration in Cyprus as a crypto service provider
Binance is preparing to leave Cyprus, applying to cancel its registration as a crypto service provider.
Essentially, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) listed Binance Cyprus Limited as “under examination for application for deregistration” on its website.
It was October 2022 when the crypto-exchange had obtained its Class 3 registration as a Crypto Asset Services Provider (CASP) in Cyprus.
This Class 3 would be the highest level of service provision in the nation and allows the exchange to store crypto, provide staking, manage wallets, and offer trading functions.
Yet at the time, Binance’s registration in Cyprus was described as a “milestone in crypto-exchange regulatory efforts in Europe,” similar to the registration of Binance that took place in France, Italy, and Spain.
Binance: the crypto-exchange wants to focus on larger crypto markets
According to what a Binance spokesperson told Coindesk, the crypto-exchange has reportedly made this decision to focus on the larger crypto markets.
Here is what was said:
“We are working hard to prepare our business to be fully compliant with MiCA when it is implemented in the next 18 months. To that end, we have made the decision to pull back efforts in Cyprus to focus on our efforts on fewer regulated entities in the EU, especially our larger registered markets.”
Binance, like other crypto-exchanges, have recently been targeted by the US SEC, also accused of offering unregistered securities. That is why the European Union’s legislation on crypto markets, MiCa, seems to have become the only hope for the crypto industry and its development.
Among the most recent US crypto-exchanges to register in the EU is Gemini of the Winklevoss brothers, which has also mentioned the Republic of Ireland as their European headquarters.
BNB in a bear market, but not because of crypto-exchange withdrawals
The native crypto-exchange, Binance Coin (BNB) is following the general trend of the crypto market, which seems to still be bearish.
And indeed, in the past month, BNB has experienced a 25% price dump from $312 to the current $236.
The price drop began around 5 June, the day the US SEC went on a rampage with its 13 charges against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng CZ Zhao.
CZ reportedly specified in a tweet that the withdrawals made by the crypto-exchange amounted to $400 million in the 24 hours between 9 and 10 June. Nowhere near the inflated figures that have been published, partly to create FUD among investors.
CZ himself has also stated that during the collapse of FTX in November 2022, the platform handled as much as $7 billion in withdrawals.
The two completely different figures suggest that Binance is not collapsing at all, but that like all crypto-exchanges with units in the United States, it is under scrutiny by the SEC.
