UK watchdog puts pressure on Binance Markets: what are the alternatives for UK investors?

A first step towards centralized crypto exchanges’ crackdown?

The FCA, UK’s financial watchdog, recently imposed restrictions on Binance Market Limited, the subsidiary company of one of the world’s largest centralized crypto exchanges, Binance. The authority stated that by June 30th, Binance must display the following notice on all its communications channels: “Binance Markets Limited is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK without the prior written consent of the FCA (…)”, meaning Binance Markets Limited is not allowed to advertise, collect data or offer regulated tokens such as securities to UK customers. This ban won’t stop Binance’s UK customers from buying and selling bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on its exchange platform for now, yet is a sign of a tendency towards strict cryptocurrency regulations.   

Exchange platforms, like Binance, have been key growth catalysts for the crypto industry. Their benefits (ease of use, trading services…) have been obvious at a time with no user friendly decentralized alternatives.

There is however a flip side to this story. Crypto exchanges’ centralised nature can imply single points of failures, mismanagement and regulatory pressures. Besides, exchanges’ centralization prevents its users from being in full ownership of their digital assets, a pillar of the crypto revolution. Paradoxically, centralized exchanges recreated parts of the traditional banking system’s principles. 

Alternatives enabling full ownership and true decentralization exist:

At Ledger, we enable you to retain full ownership of your crypto assets. And it is worth underlining that following UK’s regulatory pressure, Ledger hardware device sales registered a five-fold increase in the UK this week-end. 

Our mission is to enable you to enjoy security, ownership and ease of use for your crypto. Ledger Live forms a gateway to all your crypto services that, combined with your Ledger device, allows you to manage your crypto from within the security of your hardware wallet. It enables you to buy, sell, and swap your crypto directly on the app. You can also grow your assets by securely staking them (Polkadot, Algorand, Cosmos, Tezos, Tron…) and lending them using Compound lending services. Today, 28 coins and over 1800 tokens are available on Ledger Live.

Ledger Live, combined with Ledger hardware wallet, has tremendous benefits: 

• It is the one-stop-shop for all your crypto needs, an all-in-one app designed to make your crypto life much easier. 

• It fully secures your digital assets. The crypto you buy will directly and automatically be sent to your secure Ledger hardware device, thereby reducing risks.

• You no longer need to rely on third-parties to manage your crypto. Ledger Live provides true financial freedom and ownership as nobody controls your digital assets, except you. No centralized exchange (like Binance) nor centralized entity will hold them. 

Start your crypto journey with Ledger, safely manage your crypto and future proof yourself from uncertainties.