The UK division of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has split from an organisation comprising top UK fintech founders looking to foster greater collaboration between fintechs, government, and regulators.
The move comes as Binance cancels its registration in the UK after it was banned from regulated activity in the UK two years ago.
Fintech Founders (previously called the Digital Finance Forum) is a not-for-profit organisation representing leading UK fintech entrepreneurs.
It is chaired by Christian Faes, the co-founder and executive chair of marketplace LendInvest.
Recent events hosted by Fintech Founders include a London Stock Exchange-hosted event with Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister Andrew Griffith MP.
Binance became a member of the Fintech Founders group in May last year.
In a press release at the time, Binance deputy head of UK Ilir Laro said:
“We’re excited to become a partner with the Fintech Founders group, to be part of this highly influential network, and look forward to supporting the UK’s advancement for fintech companies as well as financial institutions to work together for mutual benefit.”
Binance said it decided to end the partnership.
A Binance spokesperson said: “We have been a member of Fintech Founders for a little more than a year. We regularly evaluate our industry association footprint and have made the decision not to renew our membership.”
It said that it would remain an “active member” of the crypto trade association CryptoUK.
Fintech Founders said it had a fixed-term sponsorship agreement with Binance which had come to its natural conclusion.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that European payments giant Checkout.com had ended its relationship with the troubled crypto giant.
According to Forbes, Binance was Checkout.com’s biggest customer and in recent months has been processing between $300 million and $400 million in Binance transactions.
In June, it was revealed Binance had cancelled its UK registration over money laundering and compliance concerns.
In a pair of letters sent to Binance on August 9 and 11, Checkout CEO Guillaume Pousaz terminated the company’s relationship with its once-largest customer citing “reports of regulators actions and orders in relevant jurisdictions”
Binance Markets Limited (BML), the UK division of Binance, requested to withdraw its permissions with the FCA.
It followed the crypto giant, which was set up in 2017, being banned from all UK-regulated activity in 2022, amid a broader crackdown on the crypto industry’s potential role in fraud and money laundering.
Binance said its withdrawal was ensuring it complied with FCA guidelines on unused permissions.
The UK division was launched in 2020, with the launch of binance.co.uk but the UK division never provided any services or had any users.
The crypto exchange, which is facing regulatory scrutiny in the US, is regulated in European markets including France, Italy, and Spain.
But it has retreated from other markets including Cyprus and the Netherlands.
Binance has previously said it has “every intention of registering with the FCA to ensure regulatory adherence.”
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