German regulators have informed Binance that they will not grant the cryptocurrency custody licence it sought. This refusal adds to the series of setbacks faced by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
BaFin, the financial regulator in Germany, made this decision, dealing a blow to Binance’s plans for expanding its operations in Europe. Apart from being banned in Italy and the Netherlands, the exchange is also under regulatory scrutiny in various other countries.
BaFin’s decision primarily stems from concerns about Binance’s compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations. Additionally, the regulator has criticized Binance for providing insufficient information about its business operations.
While Binance has denied the allegations and stated its commitment to addressing BaFin’s concerns, this decision is expected to create more challenges for the exchange’s operations in Germany.
The following are some of the reasons why Germany has rejected Binance’s bid for a cryptocurrency licence:
- Binance has not been transparent about its ownership structure.
- Binance has not provided enough information about its customer base.
- Binance has not implemented adequate AML and KYC procedures.
- Binance has been accused of market manipulation.
