Strengthening its foothold, Binance announced its Dubai subsidiary, Binance FZE, became the first crypto exchange in the world to secure an Operational MVP License from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority [VARA], initially for institutional and qualified retail investors.
The issuance of the operational MVP license, which is seen as a significant accomplishment, follows Binance’s successful acquisition of a provisional MVP license in March 2022 and a preliminary MVP license in September 2022.
Users registered with the exchange’s local wing would be now able to access regulated virtual asset services in Dubai under VARA’s investor protection and market assurance criteria after receiving an Operational Minimum Viable Product [MVP] authorization.
This involves two licensed operations: virtual asset broker-dealer services and virtual asset exchange services, which are only available to accredited clients and qualified institutional investors in the city-state, as stated in the announcement post.
Institutions and residents that qualify to use the services provided by the Operational MVP License in Dubai can do so knowing they’re under investor protection and market assurance standards tailored specifically for the virtual asset sector, and required by VARA for any licensees to provide regulated virtual asset services in Dubai.
The news comes amid a challenging period for the global cryptocurrency sector, particularly for digital asset service providers like Binance, which are being closely scrutinized by numerous international regulatory bodies across the world.
Binance Refuse To Bow Before CFTC
Last week, the CZ-led trading platform indicated its readiness to take on market regulators. As reported by TronWeekly, the leading crypto exchange planned to file a petition seeking a dismissal of the CFTC lawsuit against it.
The exchange and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao [CZ], were charged by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with operating illegally, not properly registering the exchange, and willfully breaking American laws.
Refusing to back down, multiple Binance entities, Zhao, and former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim considered submitting two separate petitions to file the complaint before July 27, according to a recent filing to an Illinois District Court.
“The Foreign Binance Entities and Zhao intend to file a joint Motion to Dismiss the Complaint. Lim intends to file a separate Motion to Dismiss the Complaint and join parts of the motion filed by the Foreign Binance Entities and Zhao,” the filing read then.