Binance appears to be preparing to exit Cyprus. On its website, the CySEC flagged Binance Cyprus Limited as “under review for deregistration application.”
In October, the cryptocurrency exchange received Level 3 registration in Cyprus as a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP). At the time, Binance said the registration was “another milestone in Binance's regulatory efforts in Europe” and “follows similar registrations of Binance’s local entities in France, Italy, and Spain.” Level 3 is the highest level of service offered by the island nation and allows exchanges to custody crypto assets, provide collateral, manage investment portfolios and perform many other functions in addition to providing trading platforms. Nonetheless, Reuters quoted an unnamed source from the regulator as saying that Binance never launched its services in Cyprus.
“We are working hard to prepare our business to be fully compliant with MiCA [Market for Cryptoassets] when it is implemented within the next 18 months. To this end, we have decided to withdraw our efforts in Cyprus and focus our efforts in the less regulated EU physically, especially our larger registered markets." The Cypriot regulator lists nine registered CASPs on its website, including Binance. Other lists include eToro and Revolut entities. However, other exchanges such as Crypto.com and Gemini are report edly accepting registrations in Cyprus .
The crypto industry is gearing up for EU MiCA legislation to come into effect next year. Since Cyprus is an EU member state, the MiCA rules will allow Binance to “passport” its registration under the new legislation from other European regulators throughout the country. Binance , Binance.US, and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao were instructed by the SEC on June 5 on 13 counts, including unregistered securities sales and failure to register as a securities exchange.
