Binance’s ‘commitment to compliance’ now means this for Hong Kong’s users

Binance, arguably the world’s biggest crypto-exchange, has been under a lot of regulatory fire in recent months. Many authorities around the world are now seeking to clamp down on the exchange, and by extension, the crypto-market.

These actions have had an impact on Binance Coin’s price as well, with the altcoin noting major corrections over the past few months.

Source: CoinMarketCap

At press time, however, BNB was trading in the green around the $333 price level.

It’s worth pointing out though that Binance has shown some flexibility lately in its attempts to accommodate and comply with legal requirements. The exchange’s latest actions pertaining to users based in Hong Kong are evidence of the same.

A step in the right direction?

According to the same, Binance users from Hong Kong will no longer be able to open Futures accounts. The same was first announced by CEO Changpeng Zhao who tweeted,

As per the blog post attached above, users from Hong Kong will not be able to open any new derivatives products (including all Futures, Options, margin products, and leveraged tokens) or accounts. Moreover, 

“Users from Hong Kong will have a 90-day grace period to close their open positions. During the grace period, no new positions may be opened.” 

The aforementioned development came on the heels of Hong Kong’s regulators barring the crypto-trading platform from performing regulated activities. Binance’s latest actions can be seen as an effort to comply with the said directives. The blog post added,

“Our aim is to create a sustainable ecosystem around blockchain technology and digital assets, and we hope that such efforts will help the industry grow in the local market in the long run.”

Binance has been a target of similar directives from a host of other countries. Apart from Hong Kong, question marks have been raised about its operations in the U.K., Italy, Netherlands, and Malaysia, among others.