Exit Germany, Enter Japan – Binance Struggles with Licensing Approvals

As the world's largest centralized digital asset exchange, Binance garners more attention than most.  This means constantly being watched and scrutinized by regulators around the world – and with the track record of many centralized exchanges, this is justifiably warranted.  Unfortunately for Binance, scrutiny of its operations continues to make attaining the appropriate licensure to operate in many jurisdictions around the world.  This has resulted in the exchange withdrawing certain submissions, and resorting to acquiring pre-existing companies that boast required licensure to achieve its goals of expansion.

BaFin Too Tall a Hurdle

In Germany, the regulator tasked with overseeing the operation of financial institutions is known as BaFin.  This means that if Binance wants to operate legally within the country's borders, it first needs to be awarded the appropriate licensure by BaFin.  This is a process that does not appear to be going well, however, as it is not being reported that Binance has voluntarily withdrawn its application for registration with the regulator.

As it stands, there is a belief that this withdrawal is tied to ongoing investigations in various other countries (France, United States, etc.) stemming from alleged fraud and securities violations.  With this being the case, Binance is expected to soon lose the ability to process euro transactions following the end of its partnership with the payment service provider, Paysafe.

Despite this recent hiccup, Binance has indicated that it intends to amend and re-filing its application with BaFin after taking the evolving regulatory landscape into account.

Japan's Clear Rules Allow Re-Entry

Meanwhile, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has just announced during a conference in Tokyo that the company plans to launch its full range of services on a new platform specifically designed for Japan.  Set to occur in August, this platform launch was made possible after the company acquired the pre-existing Sakura Exchange BitCoin last November, which already boasted the necessary licensure to do so.  In doing so, Binance essentially bought itself a path forward while ensuring adherence to existing regulations.

Source: X @binance

Additionally, Binance's General Manager for Japan, Takeshi Chino, mentioned at the conference that the company may introduce stablecoins in Japan, leveraging the country's recent stablecoin law that permits licensed banks, registered money transfer agents, and trust companies to issue these tokens.

Notably, Binance has also shown an increased focus on servicing other parts of Asia as it continues to face heavy scrutiny in Western nations such as the United States.