Image: © Iryna Budanova /Stock.adobe.com
The decision marks a turnaround from Binance, which suspended SEPA payments last year amid regulatory scrutiny.
Cryptocurrency exchange company Binance has today (7 March) reopened euro and British pound payment transfers via the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and Faster Payment Services (FPS) networks.
SEPA and FPS are common networks for making euro and British pound payments respectively. Last July, Binance told users it had temporarily suspended deposits using SEPA “due to events beyond our control”.
The week before, it was ordered to cease operations in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority, which said that the company did not have the regulatory clearances to offer services in the country.
Now, the company said that retail users across Europe will be able to make euro transfers via SEPA once more, with the exception of the Netherlands and Switzerland.
“At present time, support for corporate accounts is not available,” the company said on its website today. “However, Binance is actively collaborating with Paysafe to expand our scope of services.”
To celebrate the reopening of these transaction networks for the company, Binance said it is offering all verified users zero fees for depositing euros via SEPA and British pounds via FPS until the end of March.
Binance also said that any bank transfers made will have to be at least €3 or £3 in order to cover relevant transaction fees.
The news marks a turnaround for the cryptocurrency company after facing a wave of regulatory scrutiny last year. It was hit with a criminal complaint by authorities in Thailand that said it was operating without a licence, while a group of investors in Italy filed a class-action lawsuit against the exchange to recover losses stemming from a recent outage.
FTX expands into Europe
Meanwhile, global cryptocurrency exchange FTX has announced that it plans to expand into Europe and the Middle East.
The company said it will be offering its products and services to European clients via a licensed investment firm with “passportable licenses across the European economic area”. FTX said it secured approval from the Cyprus financial market regulator CySEC.
“We’re excited to launch our European operations in a regulated fashion to better serve those within the continent,” FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said. “As we continue to grow, we are constantly looking at opportunities to become appropriately licensed and regulated in every market we enter.
“We’ll be interacting with regulators in various countries across Europe to continue to provide a safe and secure environment for people to trade crypto,” Bankman-Fried added.
The current conflict in Ukraine has pushed crypto into the spotlight in recent weeks. With Russia facing financial sanctions, there have been concerns that individuals and organisations in the country would turn to crypto to bypass restrictions. In response, the US government has been adding crypto rules to its sanctions guidance.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
