Bitcoin had just started to recover above $9,000 on Wednesday, and then Boom!
News surfaced overnight Thursday that Japan could soon be alerting Binance that it must cease operating in the country because it’s not licensed there.
Considering Binance is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, news that the country was frowning upon it took a toll on Bitcoin’s price, as well as that of other cryptos. Exactly when Binance may have to stop operating in Asia, or details about how soon it could comply with licensing requirements, was not known at press time.
Let’s discuss.
Licensing issue
Bloomberg reported that Japan’s Financial Services Agency has found that Binance is operating in the country without “official approval.” According to the business media outlet, by not having the necessary license to operate in the country, Binance may face “government rebuke.”
Bloomberg quoted anonymous sources as saying the move was underfoot, and that the exchange had been expanding in the country without receiving the necessary permissions. In fact, Bloomberg reported in January that Binance was working to acquire a license in Japan.
As of Thursday, Binance had “not received any mandates” from the regulator, Binance’s founder Zhao Changpeng to Bloomberg.
Effect on cryptos
As noted above, on the news, Bitcoin’s price started to slide. At press time Thursday morning (New York time), the top three cryptos were trading as follows:
This is based on the past 24 hours’ worth of trading.
Bitcoin had been enjoying a solid week in which we saw its price climb above $9,000. The rebound was largely due to comments made by the Mark Carney, the chair of the Financial Stability Board.
He released a statement ahead of this week’s G20 Summit that digital assets are too small and limited to pose any real threat to the stability of the global financial system.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest