I think we've all heard of the well-known saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", but while it's a common saying, it's a bit rare to see someone getting up stronger after a hard setback. Perhaps, it's just one of those theoretical proverbs that can be much easier said than done. As a crypto community, however, I believe we can be proud of being the true embodiment of that saying. Just take a look at the long-term price performance of Bitcoin to get the point. No matter how severe that collapse is, no matter whether it is a drop of 10%, 50%, or even 90%, crypto is always able to rise from the ashes...
Why would I start my post with such an intro, you ask?
Well, simply because this is just how I felt when I saw the Binance brand shining on the tallest tower in the world in Dubai. This was a celebration of the new MVP license Binance received, following the issuance of the Provisional License in Dubai early this year.
#BinanceAtTheBurj. pic.twitter.com/lCWuvYKR51
ā CZ š¶ Binance (@cz_binance) September 24, 2022
Can you believe that such an amazing milestone happened in 2022, the year of the heaviest ever bear market?
First they will reject you:
One could think it was an easy win for the largest crypto exchange which has enough money to throw on regulatory entities and "convince" them about its legitimacy, but the fact of the matter is that just a few months ago, Binance was literally struggling in many countries around the world in a way that some people thought it was going to collapse soon.
For example, last year on Jun 25, The Financial Services Agency in Japan issued a warning to Binance for operating a business "without a license", and just a day after, the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK issued the very same warning to Binance! Moreover, Binance also underwent an outright ban in Uzbekistan among other major exchanges. According to Gleb Kostarev, Binance's head of Eastern Europe
Binance continues to mature and expand across CIS as a more traditionally regulated fintech organization
Even in "Israel", Binance had to halt its activities following a regulatory intervention by the "Capital Markets Authority". There were further voices to block, ban or regulate it in other areas of the world...
Then they will accept you:
Those severe setbacks Binance faced in the last couple of years have pushed it towards making more efforts to attain global regulatory approval in several states around the world. And it seems like it is doing damn well on that front.
According to CZ:
When we first started, we wanted to embrace the decentralized philosophy of no offices, no headquarters, and no corporate entities. As soon as you want to get licenses, you have to have the traditional structures, which we do now.
Apart from the high-profile license in the UAE, it also is doing a great job in other areas too. In France, for instance, Binance managed to get its first license in Europe to operate as a registered Digital Asset Service Provider in the country. Not too away from France, Binance also successfully got similar official registrations in both Spain and Italy (the country in which it was labeled as "unauthorized" less than one year ago!)
Going a bit to the east, it obtained approval to operate in Kazakhstan, the country which ambitiously looks to bolster its crypto industry
Kazakhstan has shown itself to be a pioneer in Central Asian crypto adoption and regulation," said Changpeng Zhao (CZ)
To top it all off, Binance is involved in a massive effort to create legal teams and lobbyists to engage with US legislators]and members of Congress in order to help shape pro-crypto regulations!
A shout-out to Binance:
Well...to be blunt, I'm not a big fan of centralized exchanges in general, and I'm one of those dreamers who wish DEXs to fully replace CEXs someday in the future. However, when I see the fierce fight against crypto entities, I can't help but salute those who are making hard work to continue operating despite all the anti-crypto waves led by the media and governments. It is also hard to deny that Binance has served and saved crypto on more than one occasion, maybe the last of which was its decision to implement a burn mechanism on all $LUNC spot & margin trading in order to help the LUNC community... That in itself deserves one more salutation...
What do you guys think about Binance obtaining global licenses? I'm keen to hear your opinions and thoughts...