Binance continues its worldwide license hunt

Crypto is now an integral part of financial and regulatory landscapes, and for any crypto service provider with global ambitions compliance is no longer an option, it’s a requirement.

Binance going on a license hunt illustrates this perfectly.

A company de facto without headquarters, Binance used to be known not only for its impressive expansion and diversification, but also for its uncertain legal position. Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Italy and the UK are among the countries that have issued warnings at some point, urging the world’s largest exchange to comply with their regulations.

This year Binance CEO CZ and his team must have judged that the time has indeed come; and so 2022 marks the company’s compliance year.

⚖️ So far it obtained official green light from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, France, Bahrein, Italy and Kazakhstan (in process).

⚖️ This week Binance’s subsidiary in Spain obtained the status of a Virtual Service Provider, the equivalent of a license. The company had announced its European plans before (as did its rivals Coinbase and FTX), and it looks like it is sticking to them.

⚖️ Binance won’t stop at the Old Continent though. This week CZ was on trip to Africa, visiting the Presidents of Ivory Coast and Senegal. Together with CZ’s tweet about Africa being “primed for crypto adoption”, this cap is becoming clearer by the day.

Crypto is still a subject that divides politicians, but proper economic incentives that CZ brings to the discussion table do tend to change their minds. Creating better conditions for the development of the crypto industry country by country, and then positioning Binance at its center is a winning strategy so far, both for Binance and crypto… even if it creates a noticeable risk of creating world’s biggest crypto monopoly ?