Binance stands as one of the most persistent crypto exchanges when it comes to gaining regulatory approval and operational licenses from regulators across the world. In this effort to operate as a fully licensed financial institution, the exchange has stopped offering it’s crypto derivatives services in Spain as it reportedly awaits approval from the Spanish regulator, Comisiรณn Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV).
As evidenced by Binanceโs official Spanishย website, the crypto exchange removed the derivatives drop-down menu, which is still available on the global version. According to local news publication La Informaciรณn, the move to hide derivatives offering in Spain comes as a way to comply with the requirements set by CNMV, a.k.a. the National Securities Market Commission.
The screenshot above shows the missing โDerivativesโ option from the Spanish version, which is evidently available in the global version. While the screenshot confirms Binanceโs intent to offer services only upon regulatory approval, further investigation from Cointelegraph confirmed that the URLs related to derivative offerings in Spain โ including futures, battle and derivative portal โ remain active.
However, the local report suggested that Binance will reintroduce the derivatives option only after receiving the regulatory green light in the form of a guarantee certificate from the Bank of Spain (BdE).ย
In June 2021, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao revealed plans to expedite the crypto exchangeโs growth by working with the regulators, stating:
โWe want to be licensed everywhere. From now on, weโre going to be a financial institution.โ
Binance, along with other crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Bit2Me, is listed in CNMVโs โgray list,โ which prohibits organizations from operating as fully licensed entities in the region.
Related: Franceโs financial authority approves Binance’s registration as digital asset service provider
Despite the minor setback faced due to regulatory delays in Spain, financial authority from the neighboring country of France โ Autoritรฉ des marchรฉs financiers (AMF) โ approved Binance as a registered digital asset service provider.
.@Binance just got approved for the France VASP (Virtual Assets Service Provider) registration.https://t.co/DwqZrxq3bS pic.twitter.com/Eebkc7OhRV
โ CZ Binance (@cz_binance) May 4, 2022
As Cointelegraph reported, the move into France signaled Binanceโs latest expansion of its global operations, having obtained in-principle approval to operate in Abu Dhabi in April. Citing the regulatory approval in France, Binance shared plans to significantly scale its operations in the region while pursuing โfurther infrastructure development.โ
