Crypto exchange Binance registry in Sweden
STOCKHOLM, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Sweden’s financial watchdog said on Thursday it had registered crypto exchange Binance this week as a financial institution in the country.
The registration allows Binance to launch a website in Swedish and in other ways market itself directly to consumers in the Nordic country, Per Nordkvist, deputy head of the Financial Supervisory Authority’s banking department, told Reuters.
Binance accounts for over half of the global crypto trading market. With its registration in Sweden, it has now received regulatory permits or approvals in 15 jurisdictions, including several EU states and Australia and New Zealand.
The core of the company’s business, the giant Binance.com exchange, processed over $22 trillion worth of trades last year.
Binance, which was founded by CEO Changpeng Zhao in Shanghai in 2017, has declined to disclose where the exchange is based.
A Reuters analysis in December of Binance’s corporate filings in 14 jurisdictions found that the Binance.com exchange remains mostly hidden from the public.
For example, the public filings do not show how much money flows between the devices and Binance.com. Reuters analysis also found that several of the units appear to have little activity.
Binance said in a statement shared Thursday by its CEO on Twitter that with the latest registration, Swedish residents can legally access services including crypto trading and the withdrawal and deposit of euros on the exchange.
But, Nordkvist said, the registration of the local entity, Binance Nordics AB, does not mean that the company is fully monitored by the watchdog.
Unlike licensed financial service providers, companies that are registered are obliged to provide the Swedish watchdog with information on anti-money laundering measures but little more.
“Binance continues to demonstrate its commitment to working closely with regulators to uphold global standards,” Richard Teng, Binance’s head of Europe and MENA, said in a blog post on Wednesday.
Reporting by Anna Ringström and Tom Wilson in London; editing by Jason Neely
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