Belgium Orders Binance To Stop Crypto Exchange And Storage Services

JAKARTA - The Belgian Financial Services and Market Authority (FSMA) has ordered the leading crypto asset exchange, Binance, to stop crypto asset exchange and storage services. In an announcement on June 23, FSMA stated that with Binance offering crypto asset-related services "from countries that are not members of the European Economic Area," the exchange violated Belgian law on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism. The financial regulator stated that Binance should immediately stop all related services in Belgium.

According to the FSMA, Binance controls about 19 companies outside the European Economic Zone - EU and Icelandic, Liechtenstein, and Norway countries - which are engaged in operations or technical support that are not listed in the terms and conditions read by Belgian users when registering for service.

The regulator said it had submitted "some requests for information" to Binance but did not receive satisfactory answers to the services provided by its companies.

"Although it has been given the opportunity to Binance many times, the party has failed to show, with adequate documentation and evidence, that the exchange services between crypto assets and legal currencies, as well as crypto asset storage services offered and provided in Belgium, are carried out through legal entities regulated by the laws of other European Economic Area member countries that are legally authorized by their home member countries to carry out these activities, including in Belgium," the FSMA said, quoted by Cointelegraph.

As part of this order, Binance will be required to contact all clients in Belgium and return all crypto assets and private keys held by the exchange. A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the company was "disappointed" by the FSMA's decision and planned to review notifications from the regulator.

FSMA is only one of several national regulators to take action against Binance, as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is currently suing the exchange and its entity in the United States for alleged violations of securities law. Christophe De Beukelear, a member of the Belgian parliament, announced in January 2022 that he plans to receive his government salary in the form of Bitcoin for one year.