Binance to halt derivatives and futures trading in Europe

Binance has officially halted futures and derivatives products offerings across the European region, commencing with Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. 

The leading cryptocurrency exchange continues to limit products to users amid the ongoing challenges it faces from global regulators.

The move means users from these countries will not be able to open new futures or derivatives products accounts “with immediate effect”. 

Binance confirmed that if existing users have any open positions in these markets, they are advised to close them, noting that a further announcement would be made at a later date to confirm a 90-day period in which to close open positions.

Binance clarified the importance of European markets to their offerings and invited regulators to open a dialogue to discuss the requirements necessary at local levels. The discussion marks Binance’s continued efforts to collaborate with local and national regulators on the necessary requirements to operate in these areas.

“The European region is a very important market for Binance, and it is taking proactive steps towards harmonising crypto regulations, which is a positive sign for the industry,” wrote Binance in a tweet.

Binance also said it does “not actively market Futures and Derivatives Products locally” and that they plan to start “further scaling down” access to these products within Europe. 

The announcement follows Binance’s recent removal of high leverage trading products from its product offerings and a seemingly relentless wave of scrutiny and oversight from global regulators. 

Despite recent efforts to appease regulators by CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance has been forced to delist certain margin trading pairs and cease trading and support for stock tokens like Tesla and Coinbase. Binance is also preparing to cut daily withdrawal limits from two Bitcoin (BTC) to 0.06 BTC in August.

Additionally, leading banking institutions and payment processors in the UK have started to limit transfers to and from Binance, citing “excessively high fraud rates” as a key reason for the decision. 

Binance has also been banned in Malaysia and given 14 days notice to shut down its operations. According to an announcement released today, the Securities Commission of Malaysia has issued public enforcement actions against Binance for “Illegally Operating in Malaysia.”

Binance has been given 14 business days from July 26 to comply. The order demands that Binance disables its website and mobile apps in Malaysia alongside ceasing “all media and marketing activities”.

The announcement also mandated Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to ensure full compliance with the order. Malaysia’s securities regulator also urged citizens to desist from trading with crypto exchanges operating in the country illegally.

Binance-owned exchange WazirX is also being investigated by authorities in India to determine whether it was complicit in alleged money-laundering conducted by betting apps, which collected more than $134 million in the past 10 months. The Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations that Chinese-operated betting apps laundered a portion of funds through WazirX.

CEO Changpeng Zhao remains optimistic about the future of Binance despite the recent regulatory issues faced by the exchange. He recently disclosed that Binance US, which operates separately from Binance, was looking to go public.

“Binance US is looking at the IPO route,” he said.

“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.”