Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has ceased accepting new users from the United Kingdom as of 5:00 PM local time on October 16. This action follows a legal directive issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK on October 10 to its partner, Rebuildingsociety.com Ltd (REBS). The FCA's ruling included a ban on REBS conducting advertising promotions and soliciting services related to Binance products.
In response to the FCA's directive, Binance is actively searching for a new FCA-authorized sponsor. While this search is ongoing and until a new authorized sponsor is appointed, Binance's platform and the most recent mobile applications) will be subject to temporary restrictions on promotional activities. Existing Binance users in the UK will still have access to their services during this period. However, Binance has made it clear that no new products or services will be introduced in the UK during this transitional phase.
Several features previously available on the Binance International platform, such as gift cards, Binance Academy, Binance Research, Binance News, and referral bonuses, are currently unavailable on the UK platform. The FCA recently implemented a new set of cryptocurrency marketing regulations, requiring exchanges to adhere to fair, clear, and honest marketing practices to UK consumers, accompanied by clear risk warnings. The directive allowed entities registered with the FCA to market products and services on behalf of non-registered overseas companies. Binance intended to use REBS to provide its UK users access to the exchange's offerings through localized domain names since the exchange itself is not registered with the FCA.
