Binance Enters German Market via Partnership With Crypto Investment Firm

Binance has partnered with licensed German investment firm CM-Equity to offer crypto asset management and brokerage services in Germany and Europe.

• CM-Equity has a crypto custody license with Germany’s Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), allowing Binance, the largest crypto exchange by volume, to operate in the German market.
• Digital asset custodians in Germany have to be licensed, per a law passed in January 2020. Crypto firms have scrambled to understand the new mandate; BaFin offered additional clarity on the new regulations in February.
• “Depending on the residency of the user, some services were restricted and/or not marketed in certain jurisdictions,” Wei Zhou, Binance’s chief financial officer, said via email. “This partnership allows Binance to offer more services and market directly to more countries in Europe.”
• The exchange would not clarify what kind of new services it would offer with CM-Equity, saying it would announce them in the coming weeks and months.
• “Binance offers the best trading experience in the market and we are thrilled to collaborate with the world’s number one,” CM-Equity CEO Michael Kott said in a press release. “Our fully licensed digital assets platform will benefit from the best liquidity and frictionless service offered by Binance.”

Read more: Germany’s BaFin Clarifies Licensing Process for Foreign Crypto Custodians