Binance Shuts Down In the Netherlands

By Kevin • June 20, 2023 10:57 pm • Comments

Binance has now been facing regulatory scrutiny in regions all over the world and it looks like this will cause the company to shut down operations in some places.

Most recently, the company revealed that it was unable to get a virtual asset service provider license in the Netherlands.

As a result, the exchange is now forced to cease all operations within the country which indicates another region where the regulations are preventing the growth of crypto.

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It is unclear why Binance was denied a virtual asset service provider license, but it seems that all existing users in the country will now have to withdraw their digital assets.

It is possible that this is because of the ongoing regulatory pressure that the company is facing in the US which may have influenced other regions to do the same.

Watcher.guru reports:

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has been facing significant scrutiny in recent times.

The recent legal action initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] against the exchange has been generating substantial attention. In addition to the ongoing legal challenges, Binance has now encountered another regulatory obstacle in the Netherlands.

Earlier today, Binance made an announcement stating that it will be exiting the Dutch market.

The exchange was unable to secure a virtual asset service provider [VASP] license, which is necessary to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering regulations in the region. Consequently, this decision will be implemented immediately, and Binance will no longer accept new users from the Netherlands.

Users of the platform will be able to initiate withdrawals while all trading activities will be paused immediately.

In addition to this news, Binance as also made headlines in France where it has been the target of a new money laundering investigation.

Whether or not these allegations are actually true or not is still unknown, but it seems like that the company has been facing a lot of pressure in recent months.

Other crypto exchanges like Coinbase have also been facing the same heat from regulatory authorities so it’s likely that this could be a crackdown on the crypto industry as a whole.

CoinDesk concludes:

Europe has generally been receptive to crypto exchanges and their anti-money laundering efforts. Binance is already AML compliant in France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden and Lithuania.

Two days ago, the exchange said it planned to leave Cyprus to focus on becoming fully compliant with the new European Union rules on crypto-assets (MiCA).

Binance said it has been in a comprehensive registration application process as a virtual asset service provider with the regulator. “Although Binance explored many alternative avenues to service Dutch residents in compliance with Dutch regulations, unfortunately this has not resulted in a VASP registration in the Netherlands at this time.”

The exchange said it will continue to engage with Dutch regulators.
Existing Dutch resident users are being sent an email with comprehensive information about what this means for their accounts and any assets they currently have on the Binance platform, alongside any steps they will need to take.

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