Binance Not Licensed to Operate in Malta

By Kapil Gauhar

The Malta Financial Services Authority recently made an announcement declaring that the world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, is under Malta’s jurisdiction. Subsequently, the firm isn’t subject to regulatory oversight by the MFSA, as per the announcement.

Malta’s financial regulatory agency also revealed that there is a progressing investigation to evaluate whether Binance has activities in the country that could possibly “fall inside the realm of regulatory oversight.”

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) added –

“Admission of virtual financial assets to trading and/or for offering virtual financial assets to the public in and from Malta requires an MFSA licence in terms of the Virtual Financial Assets Act (CAP 590) of 2018.”

Because of the upheaval that MFSA’s announcement caused in the cryptosphere, Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, took to Twitter to react to the allegations claiming this is ‘old news.’

Zhao said –

“There is a mix of truth, FUD & misconception. Binance.com is not headquartered or operated in Malta. This is old news & has always been the case, hence there is quite a bit of FUD turning this into a breaking story. The community’s comments show that understanding.”

He added –

“The firm operates in a ‘decentralized manner’ reaching over 180 nations worldwide. Although Binance has a ‘number of regulated entities around the world,’ its goal is to become a fully decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).”

It remains vague where Binance is actually situated since it reported that it was moving to Malta in March 2018 in the wake of being compelled to move out of Japan by regulators. During that time, Malta’s PM, Joseph Muscat, seemed to have invited the cryptocurrency exchange to the country.

Muscat said –

“Welcome to Malta Binance. We aim to be the global trailblazers in the regulation of blockchain-based businesses and the jurisdiction of quality and choice for world class fintech companies.”

Also, Binance’s chief growth officer, Ted Lin, conceded in a meeting a week ago to having workplaces working in Malta.

Lin stated –

“We have offices in Malta for customer services, and some compliance people there, but it’s not the headquarters per say. It’s the spiritual headquarters. It’s a name that people think about when they think about Binance.”

Like most digital currency exchanges, Binance has consistently battled to discover a spot to call home. In any case, the ongoing declaration by the MFSA opens the conversation about the legitimacy of the business.

Kapil Gauhar

Kapil Gauhar is the founder of Blogger’s Gyan. He is a Passionate Blogger, a Big Thinker and a Creative Writer. His passion for doing friendship with words and letting people know about the wonders of the Digital World is what motivates him to take writing as a career.

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