Binance to Shut Down Its Australian Derivatives Services

Binance’s Australian financial services license is being terminated, meaning Australian residents will no longer be able to open derivatives positions on the exchange.

104 users affected

Binance is very busy with regulators around the world.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission Announced Today, Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, would no longer allow Australian clients to trade crypto derivatives.

According to the press release, ASIC yesterday received a request from Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, doing business as Binance Australia Derivatives, to terminate its Australian financial services license. Therefore, Binance made the decision to end derivatives trading for Australian residents.

As of April 14, Australian residents will no longer be able to open new derivatives positions on the platform or increase existing ones. Binance will close all remaining open positions on April 21.

ASIC indicated that it had been conducting a “targeted review” of Binance’s business in Australia. “It is critically important that AFS licensees classify retail and wholesale customers in accordance with the law,” stated Joe Longo, President of ASIC. “Retail clients trading crypto derivatives have significant consumer rights and protections under Australia’s financial services laws, including access to external dispute resolution through the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.”

Binance stipulated, in its license termination terms, that the decision would have no impact on the exchange’s requirement to continue as a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority until April 2024.

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao took to Twitter to indicate that the loss of the Binance license would only affect 104 users, and that the decision had no impact on Binance’s Australian spot trading platform.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this article owned BTC, ETH, and various other crypto assets.