Is Binance available in the UK?

At the moment, you can't open a new UK retail account. Binance stopped taking on new UK users from Monday 16 October 2023 at 5pm UK time.

The freeze began 8 October 2023, as qualifying cryptoasset rules took effect under the UK Financial Promotions Regime. The UK regulator is the FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority. It oversees financial firms and makes the rules for their advertising to the public. Since 8 October 2023, an FCA-authorised firm has had to approve adverts before services could be promoted in the UK by any unregulated overseas crypto firm.

Binance chose Rebuildingsociety.com Ltd, an FCA-authorised firm, to approve its UK promotions. On 10 October, the FCA restricted the company legally, ending its ability to approve crypto promotions. The deadline for the firm to withdraw its existing approvals was 5pm on 11 October 2023. Binance had to end new UK sign-ups because of this and is seeking a different approver.

On Binance's UK website, some platform services can be used only by UK professional clients and aren't available to UK retail clients.

Holding cryptoassets here isn't against the law. Keeping an account you already have is legal, but Binance may not carry out financial activities that are regulated in the UK.

The group owned Binance Markets Limited, a UK company listed on the FCA Register as 688849. Its Companies House number is 09510915. The FCA warned that this company needed written consent before it could carry out regulated UK business.

On 30 May 2023, Binance Markets Limited's request to withdraw its FCA permissions was completed. After that cancellation, Binance Group's firms hold no UK licence or registration for regulated business.

Instead, Binance's UK page says the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Markets regulates its platform entities. Those overseas companies, not a UK-regulated firm, are who you deal with when you use the platform.

The restriction had already prevented UK everyday traders from buying crypto derivatives before Binance ended new sign-ups. Options and futures contracts are among the derivatives, along with contracts for difference. A derivative is a financial product, where you trade on how the price of a coin moves without owning the coin.

Cryptoasset derivatives fall under FCA oversight, but spot coins such as Bitcoin or Ether don't. On 6 January 2021, the FCA stopped the sale, marketing and distribution of crypto derivatives and exchange traded notes to retail consumers. Firms in or from the UK were the ones affected.

Extreme price swings, cyber theft and the lack of any dependable way to price coins put everyday traders at high risk of sudden losses, so the regulator brought in this ban. Around £53m represented the FCA's estimate of savings for UK retail consumers from the ban. Because the ban applies across the whole UK market, the FCA warns that firms offering crypto derivative products to UK retail consumers are likely scams.

Instead, you can trade regulated contracts for difference based on indices, shares or forex only through an FCA-regulated forex broker authorised for UK retail clients. UK rules also let you see how spread betting vs CFDs work.

When you deal with an unregulated crypto platform, the safety net from an FCA-authorised broker is no longer available. Binance tells users on its UK homepage not to invest unless they can accept losing all the money they put in.

The Financial Ombudsman Service gives your cryptoassets no protection if you use Binance. For consumers and regulated financial firms, the UK's official complaint settlement body is the Financial Ombudsman Service, which steps in to settle disputes.

You're also unprotected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. If an authorised financial firm collapses while owing money to eligible clients, the UK fund for repaying them, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, may pay out.

Profits made through cryptoasset trading may be subject to Capital Gains Tax, according to Binance's UK page. The tax treatment of regulated derivatives is explained in our CFD tax in the UK guide.

Are you sending money to a trading platform? A quick check of official regulator records is something you can do first. Every firm we cover is checked against these records, and you can confirm a company yourself in a few minutes:

• Type the firm's name or reference number into the FCA Register to see if the status shows Authorised or No longer authorised. Its status shows No longer authorised from 30 May 2023 under reference number 688849 for Binance Markets Limited.
• Look at the FCA Warning List to see the unauthorised businesses going after UK customers and the firms you should avoid.
• Use Companies House to check whether the business is registered as a UK company and identify its directors.
• Look online for the product you're considering, the company's name and its directors' names, to see whether other people have raised any concerns.

For UK FCA-authorised platforms in forex trading or non-crypto CFDs, the FCA Register names IG, CMC Markets, Capital.com, plus Pepperstone, Plus500, eToro and XTB. Under the FCA ban, these brokers may not sell crypto derivatives to UK retail clients. UK rules still apply to their regulated forex and CFD accounts.