Binance restricts product range in Australia
BNB staking is here. (Image: Shutterstock / Grey82)
The leading crypto exchange Binance has announced that it will no longer offer futures, options and leveraged tokens to Australian customers. The derivatives offer is to be terminated by the end of this year.
Existing Australian users have 90 days to close their positions in options, futures and leveraged tokens. After the grace period expires on December 23, 2021, all remaining positions are to be closed – according to Binance on September 21, 2021 in a announcement. The exchange will remove derivatives trading to comply with local regulations. However, the Australian authorities never announced this.
As of September 24, 2021, Australian users will no longer be able to open or increase new positions for derivative products. However, users should still be able to deposit money into their margin holdings in order to prevent liquidations and margin calls.
In the past few months, Binance has received warnings from various Australian regulators.
In response, CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet that the company would take a more proactive approach to regulating its offerings.
“We proactively review our product offerings and activities on an ongoing basis in terms of user demand, evolving regulatory requirements, and future opportunities to determine changes and improvements.”
Australia is not the first region where users will experience restrictions. In July 2021, Binance already informed customers in Germany and Italy that they had 90 days to close open positions.
But other states are also against the product offers that Binance makes to its users. The Dutch central bank is of the opinion that the platform offers crypto services without any official registration. The bank also claims that Binance could expose users to illegal funding and money laundering activities.
