Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has decided to abandon its efforts to apply for a license to operate as an investment fund in Abu Dhabi.
Binance announced the withdrawal of a license application in Abu Dhabi just over two weeks into the tenure of CEO Richard Teng https://t.co/tXSso4J1wv
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) December 8, 2023
Binance’s subsidiary in the UAE, named BV Investment Management, submitted a request to withdraw its application on November 7. After more than a year of trying to submit documents to Abu Dhabi’s financial services regulator. This information is found on the agency’s website.
Sharing with Reuters reporters, a Binance spokesperson said:
“After evaluating the need for global licensing, we deemed it unnecessary to send the application to Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, this action does not affect the company’s recent agreement with the US government .”
A year earlier, Binance was approved by Abu Dhabi to operate as a cryptocurrency brokerage, providing customer-related services there.
The former CEO of the exchange, Mr. Changpeng Zhao (CZ) even sought support from the Middle East for the fund to rescue the market. To support companies affected by the FTX crisis in November 2022.
Back to the present, Binance and CZ recently pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering rules, agreeing to pay a $4.3 billion fine to US regulators. And ended the long investigation since 2020 and transferred leadership to new CEO Richard Teng. According to the latest decision, the former CEO must stay in the US until the sentencing date next year and faces the risk of a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Related: The US Department of Justice Wants Binance to Pay a Fine of $4 Billion
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plays an important role in Binance’s development strategy, because it is the location to become a global digital asset center with many incentives for the crypto industry. At a Financial Times conference in London, Richard Teng revealed that Binance’s operations center for the Middle East and North Africa region is in Dubai, but refused to share information about the company’s global headquarters.
