UK financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, has halted cryptocurrency exchange Binance from operating in the UK.
In a statement titled “Consumer warning on Binance Markets Limited and the Binance Group” published on the organization’s official website on Saturday, the FCA stated that Binance Markets Limited “is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK.”
The consumer warning further clarified that though the FCA does not regulate cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, regulated activities include “certain crypto-asset derivatives (such as futures contracts, contracts for difference and options), as well as those crypto assets we would consider ‘securities’.”
Notably, the CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, who is usually very active on Twitter is yet to make any comments about the news of the ban. His last known action on the micro-blogging platform however intimates his bullish stance on Bitcoin, as he retweeted a post by a user who sold his Tesla to buy 2.24 Bitcoins.
The crypto market has been reacting to the new development, with ‘CryptoWhale’ expressing his doubts about the Binance exchange and its CEO.
He stated in a tweet that Zhao, who on two previous instances of Binance being dogged by regulators, particularly in Japan and the USA, had said the news was intended to cause Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt in the market, was likely to come with the same reaction.
In March, CFTC opened a probe into Binance, and CZ said “ignore the FUD”
In May, DOJ & IRS opened probes into Binance, and CZ calls it FUD.
Today, UK Regulators confirmed that Binance can’t operate in the UK.
Watch for CZ’s next tweet calling it “FUD” to lessen the impact… pic.twitter.com/Oa1zpvlI35
— WhaleWire (@WhaleWire) June 27, 2021
Meanwhile, the crypto market fell following the new development. Crypto analyst “SalsaTekila” monitoring the situation in a tweet, noted that the price of Bitcoin dropped from trading at about $33k to about $31,900 shortly after a news outlet published the FCA announcement.