Binance Stops Crypto Derivatives Trading in Spain at Regulator’s Request – Report

 

A media outlet has claimed that the crypto exchange Binance has been forced to halt all crypto derivatives trading in Spain at the behest of the national markets regulator.

Per La Información, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), which has been granted certain powers over the crypto sector and polices the stock market, has recently “forced” Binance to “completely abandon the sale of cryptoasset derivatives in Spain.” The report quoted unnamed “sources from the business sector” as stating that Binance’s Spanish “managers” had “held several meetings with the [CMNV] since the beginning of the year.”

The derivatives menu has been removed from the relevant selection on the homepage of Binance’s Spanish website. In the English-language version, the derivatives menu is found between the trade and earn menus.

The same media outlet previously reported that Binance held talks with the regulator in early March this year and that Binance had handed “credential letters” to the regulator, again quoting “sources” close to the matter. In January, the firm made a bid to be included in the official registry of the central Bank of Spain (BdE).

The report stated that the “cryptocurrency giant” was “clear about its expansion strategy in Spain,” but was “awaiting approval from the BdE” before it began expanding its operations in the country.

This is not the first time the CNMV and Binance have crossed swords. In November last year, following an apparent promotional deal between Binance and the Spanish footballing legend Andrés Iniesta, the latter posted pictures to Twitter of himself using the crypto trading platform.

The unimpressed CNMV publicly admonished him on the social media platform, writing that cryptoassets, “as unregulated products,” entailed certain “risks.” The regulator ordered the World Cup-winning star to “inform yourself thoroughly before investing in” crypto “or recommending others to do so.”

Hola,@andresiniesta8, los criptoactivos, al ser productos no regulados, tienen algunos riesgos relevantes. Es recomendable leer el comunicado de@CNMV_MEDIOS del 9/2/2021 https://t.co/SWRF73xEJj e informarse a fondo antes de invertir en ellos o de recomendar a otros que lo hagan

— CNMV (@CNMV_MEDIOS) November 24, 2021

Last year, the regulator placed Binance on a regulatory “grey list” of firms – mainly crypto-related companies that it considers to be carrying out “unregulated” and “unsupervised” activities. Binance, along with a couple of other big-name crypto trading firms, was able to “leave” the list. But its struggle for formal recognition in Spain – it appears – is very much ongoing.

Cryptonews.com has contacted Binance for comment.

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