Belgium banned Binance from providing services in the country

The Belgian financial regulator has demanded that the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, stop all cryptocurrency-related activities in the country.

The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) said on Friday that Binance provides exchange and custody services for cryptocurrencies from countries outside the European Economic Area, which is prohibited by Belgian law. The regulator ordered Binance to return all funds to Belgian customers or transfer them to authorized services.

Trading platform representative named The regulator’s decision is disappointing: “We are saddened that the FSMA has taken this decision. We are reviewing the details of their notice and will continue to work with Belgian and other regulators and around the world in accordance with our commitments.”

Last week, Binance announced its withdrawal from the Dutch market. The reason for this decision was that Binance did not receive a VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) license from the Dutch financial regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). From November 21, 2020, all cryptocurrency companies operating in the Netherlands must have such a license in order to comply with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing requirements.

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In May, the EU Council completed the procedure for agreeing on new legislation on the regulation of the crypto market in the EU countries (MiCA) and the DAC8 amendment. The adoption of a single regulatory framework will make the European Union the first jurisdiction in the world to introduce a cryptocurrency licensing regime.

MiCA should in fact lead to total licensing of service providers. In addition, MiCA requires stablecoin issuers to hold sufficient collateral in physical assets. All companies providing services related to cryptocurrencies will have to fight money laundering and terrorist financing (AML) and implement know-your-customer (KYC) procedures without fail.

The DAC8 amendment requires Cryptocurrency Asset Service Providers (CASPs) to collect information on all transfers in cryptocurrencies (of any amount) to ensure traceability and identify suspicious transactions.


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