Crypto17 August, 20262 min read
Binance Seeks UK FCA License, Plans Partial Service Resumption in 2027
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Binance plans to apply for UK FCA license under new digital-asset regime. Aims to resume limited services for UK users in 2027.
7 outlets told this the same way.
Binance eyes UK FCA license
Binance is preparing to re-enter the UK market by seeking a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) license under the UK’s new digital-asset regime, with the exchange considering resuming some services for UK users in 2027.
“The FCA set out its crypto-asset regulatory framework in June and gave companies from September through Feb. 28, 2027 to apply for licenses.”
The FCA set out its crypto-asset regulatory framework in June, giving companies from September through Feb. 28, 2027 to submit license applications before the rules take effect on Oct. 25, 2027.
In June 2021, the FCA told Binance Markets Limited, its UK entity, that it could not carry out regulated activities in the country, and Binance later stopped onboarding new UK users in 2023 in response to the FCA’s financial promotions rules.
David Geale, the FCA’s executive director for payments and digital finance, said the framework would hold crypto firms to standards similar to those applied to other UK financial services providers.
A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange “does not comment on speculation surrounding potential licence applications.”
Regime timeline and FCA standards
The reported plan, attributed to The Telegraph, is that Binance will apply for an FCA license as new digital asset laws are set to take effect in the country.
TradingView’s account says the FCA told Binance Markets Limited in June 2021 that it was “not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK,” and Binance announced in 2023 that it would halt onboarding of new users after the UK watchdog’s rules on financial promotions.
Under the FCA’s crypto regulatory framework, companies will have from September until Feb. 28, 2027 to submit applications before the regime goes live on Oct. 25, 2027, according to the reports.
David Geale said the framework would hold crypto companies to “similar standards” as other UK financial service providers.
The Cryptonomist also frames the application window as opening on September 30, 2026, with the regime itself taking effect on October 25, 2027, while describing the process as requiring a “fit and proper” compliance standard and a genuine UK presence.
Broader compliance stakes
Beyond the UK licensing timeline, Binance’s push is described as coming after years of regulatory friction, including the FCA’s 2021 restriction on Binance’s UK entity from regulated activities and the 2023 halt in onboarding new customers. The Financial Conduct Authority’s new rules are described as requiring firms wishing to offer trading services to UK customers to have a UK-based headquarters, demonstrate sufficient financial resources and operational capabilities, and pass tests related to governance suitability, integrity, and efficiency. The بوابة التكنولوجيا المالية account adds that Binance is facing international scrutiny over compliance, anti-money-laundering, and sanctions systems, and it cites that Binance agreed in the United States to pay a penalty of about $4.3 billion over AML and sanctions violations.
It also says Binance’s founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao served four months in prison in the United States in 2024. If approved, the same source says Binance would be able to reestablish a stronger presence in one of the world’s most important financial markets after years of restrictions limiting its expansion in the UK.