TL;DR Breakdown
- U.K bank blocks Binance payment after multiple crackdown
- Binance CEO responds to multiple crackdown on Binance across the world
Santander UK, the Britain arm of popular Spanish Bank Santander, has joined the ongoing list of banks to block Binance payment.
The firm, while announcing it will no longer support Binance payment for its customers, sighted keeping them safe and following Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) instruction.
“Keeping our customers safe is a top priority, so we have decided to prevent payments to Binance following the FCA’s [Financial Conduct Authority’s] warning to consumers,” Santander UK’s support page tweeted Thursday.
The U.K. bank also said that it observed there has been a large increase in U.I. customers who are victims of crypto fraud in recent months. According to the FCA, this is as around 2.3 million or more than 4 percent of adults in the U.K. hold cryptocurrencies.
Before Santander block Binance payments, exchange faces multiple crackdowns
Binance was banned by the FCA last month after the regulator said it does not have the license to operate in the country. The ban, however, did not involve Binance.com, the main crypto exchange platform.
A Binance spokesperson said that the exchange is disappointed at Santander for blocking Binance payment. “We are disappointed that Santander appears to have taken unilateral action based on what appears to be an inaccurate understanding of events.”
“We reiterate the fact that the FCA notice was not about user deposits on Binance.com at all,” they added.
Santander UK comes after Barclays that suspended debit or credit card Binance payment until further notice.
Apart from the crackdown in the U.K, Binance has recently faced crackdowns from regulators around the world, including the U.S., Japan, Thailand, and the Cayman Islands. Yesterday, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority cautioned citizens against using the exchange, citing the FCA’s statement.
The firm CEO, Changpeng Zhao, who responded to the firm’s multiple crackdowns, said regulatory compliance is a process. Binance, as he puts it, continues to evolve as it complied with evolving regulations in the crypto space.
