- Binance has withdrawn one of its license applications.
- The exchange said the “application was not necessary.”
- The withdrawal comes as regulatory pressure from different angles piles on the exchange.
According to the latest media reports, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, has withdrawn its bid for a crypto license in Abu Dhabi.
The development comes hardly a month after Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stepped down as Binance’s Chief Executive Officer following a guilty plea in the U.S. During the time, the exchange also agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Binance Withdraws License Application in Abu Dhabi
On December 7, Reuters reported that Binance’s Abu Dhabi unit, BV Investment Management, had withdrawn its license application with the emirate’s financial regulator.
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Binance applied in November 2022, and the license would have enabled the exchange’s Abu Dhabi unit to manage a collective investment fund. A representative said the “application was not necessary” following Binance’s assessment of global licensing needs.
The exchange’s representative also reiterated that the decision to cancel the application was unrelated to the legal woes Binance and its former CEO are facing in the U.S.
While Binance’s new CEO, Richard Teng, has reassured the public of the exchange’s positive trajectory in the coming days and even promised to announce its global headquarters “in due course,” this isn’t the first time Binance withdrew a license application in 2023.
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This year, besides pulling from Cyprus to “focus on fewer regulated entities in the EU,” Binance canceled its license application in Germany and announced that it would leave the Netherlands. The exchange has also reportedly stopped accepting new customers in the UK.
In the Philippines, the regulator put the exchange on notice and initiated a process of blocking its access.
Read how Binance expanded the capabilities of its Web3 wallet:
Binance Web3 Wallet Now Supports Bitcoin, Dogecoin and More
Read more about Binance’s Web3 wallet:
Binance Debuts User-Friendly Wallet for Web3 Adoption
