We round up the week’s most important news from crypto-industry participants.
- The UK’s FCA restricted Binance UK’s partner’s operations in the United Kingdom.
- Bitstamp will cease services for Canadian residents.
- Xapo Bank has obtained an EU brokerage licence.
- Deribit will list options on Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Polygon (MATIC).
UK watchdog restricts Binance partner’s operations in the United Kingdom
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (directed Rebuilding Society to limit promotions of financial activities on behalf of unauthorised crypto-asset service providers. The firm’s partner is Binance UK.
The regulator ordered the company to stop promoting financial services and to inform customers that it cannot endorse content from unauthorised individuals or organisations. The move came a few days after Binance UK announced that it had obtained FCA authorisation through cooperation with Rebuilding Society.
On 8 October, a new cryptocurrency advertising regime came into force in the UK, proposed by the FCA. They complement the recently enacted Financial Services and Markets Act, affecting regulation of the industry in the country.
On 9 October, Binance opened copy trading access on its website and app. The trader whose strategy is copied will receive 10% of profits and 10% of commissions from each user.
The statistics include return on investment (PnL), maximum drawdown (MDD), assets under management (AUM). Users also have access to information about trades—both open and closed.
Bitstamp will cease services for Canadian residents
The cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp will cease serving Canadian users on 8 January. After this date, accounts will be deactivated. Company representatives did not specify the reasons for the decision.
During 2023, as a result of tightening regulation, centralized exchanges OKX and Binance, DEX dYdX, and the issuer Paxos announced their exit from the country.
In August, Coinbase announced expansion into Canada in partnership with local financial services firm Peoples Trust Company.
On 9 October it emerged that Bitstamp was in talks with several major European banks to offer crypto services. In an interview with CoinDesk, the company’s chief commercial officer and CEO of its US unit, Robert Zagotta, said so.
The executive noted that European legislation (MiCA) facilitates Bitstamp’s negotiations, with Bitstamp acting as a provider of SaaS-services. The identities of the organisations will be disclosed in Q1 2024.
Additionally, growth in inbound inquiries has been driven by the exit of FTX from the market. The latter is also cited as a reason for a more divergent regulatory picture in the US, Zagotta said.
Deribit will list options on Solana, XRP and Polygon
The derivative exchange Deribit will in January 2024 launch trading of options based on Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Polygon (MATIC).
Representatives said they are also pursuing a broker licence in the EU and confirmed plans to relocate their headquarters from Panama to Dubai.
Also on ForkLog:
- Paolo Ardoino has been appointed as the new CEO of Tether.
- The crypto exchange WOO will buy back shares and tokens from Three Arrows Capital.
- FTX used a random number to generate the insurance fund’s volume.
- In the CFTC, Voyager Digital was seen as a ‘house of cards’ for a crypto broker.
- Elliptic detected a link between Russia and the laundering of assets stolen from FTX.
What to read this weekend?
On 8 October a new cryptocurrency advertising regime came into force in the UK, as proposed by the FCA. The regulator has already flagged non-compliant entities, and firms have rushed to update apps and websites.
Bloomberg reporters conducted investigations into Binance’s $1 billion fund to restore the industry after the FTX collapse.