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CZ Confirms Binance US Will Go Ahead With IPO Despite Increased Scrutiny

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Ever since its creation, the cryptocurrency market has been the subject of routine regulatory interventions. The latest story surrounds Binance’s United States wing, Binance US, and its decision to move ahead with an IPO despite crackdowns from the financial sphere. Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao said on Friday that the company’s move was built on the back of intense discussions and reworks.

CZ, as the CEO is more commonly called, made his comments at the virtual REDeFINE Tomorrow 20201 virtual meet on July 23. He did not shy away from answering questions about Binance’s situation with US regulators regarding alleged illegal trading activities on the platform. Binance and all of its affiliates will be ready to face any regulator in the future as well, said CZ. In his words:


“Binance US is looking at the IPO route. Most regulators are familiar with a certain pattern or having headquarters, having corporate structure. But we are setting up those structures to make it easier for an IPO to happen. We are now in the mindset of shifting from a tech startup to a financial service.”

The trading platform has come under fire earlier for not complying with frameworks set by lawmakers in the States. Even CZ admitted that the company had a need to localize compliance communications to make regulatory processes faster and more transparent. Binance US has hired former US Comptroller Brian Brooks as its CEO and to chart out new paths in terms of regulations and systematic ecosystem creation. 

The creation of an IPO would allow outside investors to enter the cryptocurrency market in a traditional manner. Regulators have insisted that they want to ensure proper measures are taken before a cryptocurrency company enters the mainstream space and pockets. The United States CFTC has also played a key role in keeping the tabs on Binance and reports about the company’s dealings with US customers. 

Binance loses another UK-based bank after Barclays

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Binance’s latest fallout with regulators across the globe has left other crypto exchanges in fear. The constant pressure from financial watchdogs has proved to cause immense damage to the platform. So much so that Binance was losing out on significant partners.

Changpeng Zhao’s crypto platform emerged as one of the most prominent ones in the market. The exchange garnered the attention of crypto lovers from all around the world, which further led the platform to venture into different regions. However, certain regulators weren’t pleased with this. Particularly regulators from Japan, UK, Ontario, and the Cayman Islands expressed immense distress over this. They went on to accuse the crypto platform of operating without a proper license.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a prominent bank in the UK, Barclays withdrew support for transactions involving the exchange. More recently, another major commercial and retail bank, NatWest, revealed that it had dropped support for the crypto platform.

Binance transactions are no longer supported by NatWest

An array of people condemned NatWest’s decision. Revealing the reason behind its latest move, NatWest stated, the “increase in scams relating to cryptocurrency and regulatory uncertainty around Binance in the UK.” A Twitter used tweeted about the same,

Numerous people took to Twitter to condemn the bank’s decision and expressed angst over how banks determined how the public spent their money.

Another Twitter user with the username, Mean & Lean Fitness tweeted,

“Complaint raised to @NatWest_Help re – their recent msg restricting deposits to crypto exchanges like @binance. I will be removing my long-term custom, and I encourage others to do the same. I have not authorized them to make financial decisions on my behalf.”

While this is an ongoing debate, Changpeng Zhao revealed that he was taking his US branch public. Speaking at the blockchain virtual summit REDeFiNE Tomorrow 2021 noted that “Binance US was looking at the IPO route.”

Indian govt. investigates Binance-acquired WazirX over forex law violations

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While Binance deals with immense pressure from regulators across the globe, an Indian crypto exchange acquired by Changpeng Zhao’s crypto platform has found itself in troubled waters with the country’s financial regulator.

Binance went on to explore and expand its services across the globe. Not very long ago, the platform was interested in one of India’s prominent crypto exchanges, WazirX. Soon after this, Binance acquired the Indian crypto platform even though the crypto scene in the country wasn’t very clear. While the status quo of crypto in India remains hazy, the country’s, Directorate of Enforcement [ED] called out WazirX for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Indian crypto exchange called out for infringing forex laws

India’s financial regulator Directorate of Enforcement [ED] issued a notice to WazirX for carrying out transactions worth $372 million or 2,790.74 crore rupees involved in violating specific forex laws. The Economic Times revealed that the Indian crypto platform was investigated for initiating cross-border payments without any government /regulatory oversight.

Addressing the same, an official from the ED told the news portal,

“These were carried out in violation of forex rules. WazirX’s platform allowed clients to transfer cryptocurrencies without proper documentation, making it a route for laundering. [..] Since money has crossed borders, the law of the land applies and one needs to be sure that this money isn’t cheap money (cheap money is a low-interest loan) or dirty money (used for illegal activities).”

Even though WazirX has robust KYC and AML processes, the ED official suggested that they weren’t enough to make certain digital assets weren’t being misused.

The entire crypto-verse fought long and hard to steer away from its association with the dark web. Once again linking Bitcoin to the dark web, the ED official added,

“In the absence of any official digital currency and regulation, there have been instances of Bitcoins being used to buy drugs on the dark net as well as for money laundering.”

As Indian crypto platforms have been working with the government to formulate better laws/ regulations for the industry, the latest news could hinder the progress.

Italy joins Japan, UK, and others in issuing a notice against Binance

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Binance has garnered another warning from a brand new regulator. Italy had jumped on the bandwagon after Japan, UK, Cannada, Poland, Thailand, and the Cayman Islands.

Prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, was flourishing right after the crypto-verse began booming in terms of price. As the industry’s popularity advanced, crypto exchanges, prevalent ones like Binance, welcomed an array of new members into the market. This streak was disrupted with the intervention of regulators from around the world.

Just as Binance was trying to deal with one regulator, another one would pop up with a notice. The list seemed neverending as Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission [CONSOB] became the latest addition.

Italy’s financial regulator calls out Binance

In a recent announcement, the Italian regulator CONSOB pointed out that Changpeng Zhao’s exchange wasn’t authorized to operate in the region. The regulator made sure to stress the fact that investors were to invest in “utmost diligence.”

The notice further read,

“Consob warns savers that the companies of the ” Binance Group ” are not authorized to provide investment services and activities in Italy, not even through the website www.binance.com whose sections called ” derivatives ” and ” Stock Token “, relating to instruments related to crypto-assets, were previously also written in Italian.”

In addition to this statement, Italy’s regulator made sure to warn investors in making hasty decisions, particularly with regard to crypto-assets. The regulator noted that investors had to handle crypto with utmost caution as it could lead to a loss of money.

The crypto exchange could be losing out on significant partners across the globe if the regulatory pressure on it persists. The exchange has already lost an array of partners in the UK. Just yesterday, Binance went on to put a hold on withdrawals in GBP for the customers of the UK. These glitches could pose unfavorable for the platform, which could further pave the way to the loss of customers.

Binance puts a hold on GBP withdrawals [once again] for UK users

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One of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance has been under the crypto spotlight. The firm has come under a lot of scrutinies lately from regulators across the globe. The UK has undoubtedly been a difficult area for the exchange. While UK’s financial regulator is adamant about its decision of ousting Binance, the exchange has once again decided to impact UK users.

Regulators from all around the world have been taking a deeper look into the crypto industry. Binance has particularly been under the purview of financial watchdogs from Canada, Japan, as well as the UK.

Recently, the exchange halted GBP bank withdrawals through Faster Payments and once again resumed it. However, now, the platform seems to have taken it down all over again.

Binance’s fallout with UK

A recent report revealed that the crypto exchange had temporarily stopped GBP withdrawals through Faster Payments. The exchange reportedly made the announcement soon after Clear Junction dismissed support for the firm.

Clear Junction noted that it would be taking the decision in light of the Financial Conduct Authority’s [FCA] announcement. The payments tech firm stated,

“Clear Junction can confirm that it will no longer be facilitating payments related to Binance. The decision has been made following the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent announcement that the crypto exchange is not permitted to undertake any regulatory activity in the UK.[..] Clear Junction acts in full compliance with FCA regulations and guidance in regards to handling payments of Binance.”

It was quite evident that CZ’s crypto platform was losing out on prominent players in the UK. Not very long ago, the bank Barclays’ revealed that it would stop supporting transactions associated with the crypto exchange.

The FCA had undoubtedly left the crypto exchange gasping for breath on the UK shores. With this big Binance takedown, other crypto exchanges were seen stepping up their game and trying to stay away from the eyes of the regulators.

Binance CEO Talks Compliance and Future of Crypto In Blog

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Binance and its workings came under massive scrutiny recently as financial regulators took it upon themselves to impose sanctions. To ensure its users of the safety of their holdings, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao released a blog detailing current and future plans.

In the blog, CZ stated that the drastic adoption jump could be owed to the market realizing the potential of digital assets. Binance has added requirements for using the platform such as stricter insider trading policies, a Secured Asset Emergency Fund, and a firewall to separate out the listing team. Apart from this, Binance has invested in edtech resources such as Binance Academy.

The Binance blog added:
“We also protect our users through our work with law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the UK South East Regional Organized Crime Unit, and many more to crack down on cybercrimes such as money laundering, terrorist financing and scams. In 2021, we have completed assisting 5,600 investigation requests already,100% more than 2020.”

Binance further boosted its international compliance team by a whopping 500 percent since 2020. This comes at a time when local governments were opposing Binance’s entry into foreign shores. CZ reiterated that the company would do everything in its power to comply with government mandates that allow smooth functioning.

Technology partnerships were a big arena for Binance with tie-ups including members such as CipherTrace. Binance also cleared multiple AML audits to further strengthen fund security. CZ’s letter was the first step in acknowledging the need for more transparent communication between crypto honchos and regulators. In Zhao’s words:

“Compliance is a journey – especially in new sectors like crypto. The industry still has a lot of uncertainty. We also recognize that with the growth comes more complexity.”

Binance, Coinbase web traffic takes a hit as collective figures slump by 42%

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June has been quite an unsettling month for users. Web traffic to cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase has taken a massive hit. According to the latest stats by blockchain analysis firm, ICO Analytics, the figures for cumulative web traffic to crypto exchanges in June have decreased by 42%.

This includes some of the most prominent centralized cryptocurrency exchanges [CEX] as well as the decentralized ones [DEX]. Thailand-based platform, Bitkub recorded the most decline of 59%, followed by Seychelles-based, OKEx with 57%, California-based Binance US with 56%, and Kraken at 51%.

Following the development, Binance CZ tweeted,

“June is a down month, nothing new there. What stood out is that PancakeSwap, a DeFi on BSC, is ranked 4th of all exchanges. Bigger than many CEX. Amazing”

DEXs outpace CEXs as DeFi continued to scale

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Cayman Islands-based, Binance’s remained at the top of the game with 150 million visits in June, a decline of 40% since the previous month. Nasdaq-listed Coinbase followed suit with 71 million visits. Binance Smart Chain-based DEX PancakeSwap amassed a weekly monthly visit of 18 million. Uniswap, on the other hand, slipped to the 10th position with 9 million, down by 44% since May.

In addition, popular derivatives exchange FTX fell to 25% this June to 8.4 million.

On the contrary, the web traffic for cryptocurrency exchanges had hit an all-time high in May this year. As the cumulative figures surged to 638.2 million visits owing to the market’s unpreceded rally.

Binance’s Regulatory Snub

Binance, for one, has come under a raft of criticism and clampdowns from regulators across the world. The cryptocurrency exchange ash witnessed not just the wrath of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] but also from countries across the world such as Canada, Japan, among others. CZ had recently penned down a letter regarding the same,

“I believe a well-developed legal and regulatory framework in the long term will be a solid foundation that truly makes crypto essential in everyone’s daily life.”

Binance ceases euro bank deposits as regulators come in strong

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Major cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has been making headlines almost every day following the immense scrutiny from regulators across the globe. While the regulators of different regions revealed that they wouldn’t back down, Binance was seen making some severe changes.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange was seen thriving in the crypto-verse. Binance did not shy away from entering new markets. The crypto platform veered into different countries across the globe and made sure to stay relevant throughout. Now, as the exchange continues to reside under the spotlight, it was for all the wrong reasons.

Regulators from the UK, Japan, Ontario, and the Cayman Islands have been expressing distress over the exchange’s existence in their respective regions. As they continue to allege that Binance has been functioning without a proper license, banks were complying with the regulators. UK’s prominent bank, Barclays, urged its customers to refrain from engaging in transactions with the exchange.

In more recent news, the crypto exchange sent an email to its customers pointing out that it would terminate bank transfers in euro for the time being.

Binance temporarily suspends EUR deposits through SEPA Bank Transfers

In an email sent to the users of Binance on Tuesday, the platform noted that euro deposits through the Single Europe Payments Area [SEPA] would be halted until further notice. Suggesting that the platform was enduring circumstances that were beyond its control, it said,

“Due to events beyond our control, we are temporarily suspending EUR deposits via SEPA Bank Transfers from 8 am UTC on July 7, 2021.”

However, the email did not elaborate on the reason behind the decision. But, it was quite evident that regulators, particularly the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] were coming in strong. In a recent “A letter from our CEO: Reflecting on Progress and the Road Ahead,” CZ compared the crypto-verse to cars and pointed out that traffic and safety laws were put into place after cars were developed.

He added,

“Laws and guidelines were developed along the way as the cars were running on the road. These are frameworks and laws we take for granted today that allow this powerful technology to be used widely and safely. Crypto is similar in the sense that it can be accessible for everyone, but frameworks are required to prevent misuse and bad actors. Clarifying and building the first set of standards is critical for the industry’s continued growth. And Binance wants to be a positive contributor.”

Binance Coin [BNB] navigates its way back over $300

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Binance Coin [BNB] remains untethered by all the drama that has been happening with respect to the cryptocurrency exchange.

Regulators across the globe have been taking down the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. While several authorities were noted banishing Binance for functioning without a license, banks like Barclays seem to comply with the regulators. Recently, the bank shot down any potential transactions pertaining to Binance.

None of this affected the altcoin. BNB was making headway in terms of price. After residing below $300 for so long, the altcoin finally pushed ahead. At the time of writing, the Binance coin was trading for $314 with a 6.59% surge in the last 24-hours. Over the last seven days, the coin witnessed a dainty growth of 1.55%. BNB’s market cap was at $48.23 billion which further put the altcoin at the fourth spot.

The overall sentiment in the market was quite good. The market was painted green during press time. Bitcoin [BTC] was seen climbing back over $34K. The market cap of the crypto industry was also on a surge. It was noted at $1.44 trillion.

Binance Coin [BNB] one-hour price chart

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The short-term price chart of BNB noted a bearish sentiment. However, the Bollinger Bands indicator suggested that there was limited volatility in the market. This could be beneficial for the altcoin considering the ongoing notion in the market. The Awesome Oscillator indicator formed red closing bars suggesting a bearish momentum.

The trading activity in the market seemed high. The Relative Strength Index [RSI] indicator was exhibiting extreme buyers’ sentiment. The RSI marker remained over the 50 median.

While Binance tries to deal with regulators, its native cryptocurrency Binance coin seems quite untethered. However, the altcoin could endure a small drop in the short term.

Addressing the ongoing situation, Changpeng Zhao tweeted a couple of days ago,

“For those who has been following/supporting us, you know we don’t engage in debates/fights, we focus on solving problems, and we will. As always, thank you for your trust and support! We will continue to grow together. “

Barclays customers prohibited from carrying out transactions to Binance

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It looks like banks in the United Kingdom like Barclays were complying with the country’s financial regulators by prohibiting any kind of payments to Binance.

Lately, Binance has been subject to a lot of scrutinies from across the globe. As regulators continue to bring the world’s largest crypto exchange down, banks have started to join hands with these regulators. While some banks have just begun embracing the crypto-verse, the latest move by a prominent bank could disrupt these efforts.

London-based bank, Barclays was decisive about supporting the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA]. A couple of weeks ago, the FCA noted that Binance wasn’t permitted to carry out functions in the region. While Binance was dealing with it, Barclays dropped this on the exchange.

Barclays U.K. leaves Binance hanging while it sides with the FCA

The crypto-verse has welcomed an array of people this year. A Twitter user revealed that Barclays had prohibited the user from engaging in any sort of transaction with Binance in the future. The tweet read,

Barclays UK support page went on to respond to the same with an array of tweets detailing the reason behind its doing. The bank wrote,

“Hi there, It’s our responsibility to help protect your money. With this in mind we’ve taken the decision to stop payments made by credit/debit card to Binance until further notice, to help keep your money safe. For further information on Binance and investing in crypto assets generally, please visit (the FCA website). We’re sorry for any disruption this may cause you. “

Towards the end of June, FCA issued a warning against the Binance Group. The statement clearly mentioned that any entity of the Binance Group would not be able to function in the UK without the “prior written consent” of the FCA.

This was soon followed by statements from, Japan, Canada as well as the Cayman Islands.