Binance Resumes EUR & GBP Payments after Months of Regulatory Crackdown

Binance exchange has announced it will be resuming deposits and withdrawal services for Euro (EUR) and the British Pounds (GBP) months after it suspended the services for its users.

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The trading platform will conduct transactions involving deposits and withdrawals through the SEPA payment network (SEPA) and Faster Payment Services (FPS).

The payments using these two mainstream fiat currencies will be made possible through the mobile app and the desktop platform. These payment options are open to all Binance users across Europe except for the Netherlands and Switzerland.

“Binance retail users across Europe, with the exception of Netherlands and Switzerland, will be able to make EUR transfers directly via SEPA,” the announcement reads. “At the present time, support for corporate accounts is not available. However, Binance is actively collaborating with Paysafe to expand our scope of services.”

Binance Exchange, known as one of the largest exchanges in daily trading volume, is considered one of the most embattled trading platforms. Many European authorities cracked down on the exchange last year. Beginning with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Binance was accused of illegally operating in the country through its Binance Markets Limited Subsidiary.

Authorities in the Netherlands, and Italy have also trailed the UK in going after Binance for operating without a license on their shores. Following the cracked relationship across various jurisdictions, under Chief Executive Officer Changpeng, the trading platform has re-evaluated its priorities and said it wants to focus on rebuilding its relationship with authorities across the board.

From investing in companies that are regulated in key regions to direct relationship-building push by the trading platform’s management, Binance has been making the headlines for the right reasons with one of such being the resumption of its EUR and GBP deposit services.

Binance is still contemplating setting up a regional headquarters with a couple of European countries, including France and Ireland, under consideration. Binance hopes to solidify its relationship with regulators within this headquarters bloc.

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Central Banks of France and Switzerland announce successful trial of digital Euro, Swiss Franc

On Wednesday, the Banque de France (BdF), the BIS Innovation Hub (BISIH), and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced the success of a pilot run of a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC), titled Project Jura. The project aimed to investigate cross‑border settlement with euro and Swiss franc wCBDCs, and launched on a third‑party distributed ledger technology platform.

The experimental technology explored in Project Jura first consisted of a decentralized peer‑to‑peer network of computer nodes (Corda) to validate transactions while simultaneously ensuring that all legal, regulatory, and business rules of governing nations are satisfied. Then, there was the tokenization of the aforementioned fiat currencies and the Negotiable European Commercial Paper, a short-term maturity (one year or less) debt instrument denominated in euros. Finally, Project Jura looked into infrastructure networks enabling real‑time gross settlement of transactions, bond digitization, and a digital assets registry.

Although the trial was successful, it does not guarantee the issuance of a wCBDC by Swiss, French, or European Union authorities. The report concluded that, “wCBDCs could be incorporated into novel settlement arrangements that could change the structure and functioning of capital markets, money markets and foreign exchange markets,” saying that:

“Broadening the use of central bank money through wider access or increased cross‑border settlement could catalyse these changes, as could deeper integration of currencies with other digital assets and securities.”

Experimental Architecture of Digital EUR/CHF | Source: BISIH