From August 2, French Binance customers will no longer be able to use certain trading products.
From August 2, the giant Binance will no longer allow its customers to carry out certain trading operations. The company sent an email to its French users on Wednesday, telling them the news.
“As Binance constantly re-evaluates its product and service offerings to comply with local regulations, we will be making changes to the following products for users residing in France: futures, options, leveraged tokens, binance earn ( double investment),” Binance explained.
In fact, from August 2, French users will no longer be able to “increase (their) positions or open new positions on these products”. They will be able to “fill their margin balance to avoid margin calls and liquidations, or buy out, reduce, and close any existing position they may have,” Binance adds.
“These are very complex financial instruments that advanced or technical investors use. Investors, corporations and governments use derivatives such as forwards or futures to hedge their exposure to risk and volatility in asset prices,” Binance wrote on its blog to qualify futures contracts.
Contacted by BFM Crypto, a member of Binance France confirms that the company will make changes to certain products for users residing in France.
“We proactively and constantly review our product offerings and operations, based on user demand, changing regulatory criteria and future opportunities, to determine changes and improvements to be made,” explains a spokesperson. from Binance.
“We are fully committed to the development of our industry and our priority is to satisfy our users by complying with local regulations”, he adds.
Why did the cryptocurrency giant take such a decision? In early May, Binance obtained registration as a digital asset service provider (PSAN), becoming the 37th player to receive it from the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). In its communication, Binance explains that it takes such a measure in order to adapt to French regulations. Indeed, the sale of derivative products (including those with crypto-assets as underlying) requires an authorization as an investment service provider (ISP), which the PSAN registration alone does not allow.
Until now, Binance, which claims 120 million customers, has never communicated on its number of French customers. It is therefore difficult to know how many French people are currently affected by this measure.
What are the consequences?
As a result, leveraged traders will turn to other platforms. In addition, by cutting off certain services, Binance will generate less revenue.
For the founder of the specialized site Coin Academy, this decision by Binance could have an impact on other PSAN players.