Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced yesterday (18th) that its subsidiary, Binance FZE, has obtained a full license from the Dubai-based Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP).
According to previous reports, Binance FZE, a subsidiary of Binance, obtained the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) license in July 2023, which served as a transitional phase before obtaining the full VASP license. After 9 months of effort, Binance finally obtained the full VASP license.
Binance CEO Richard Teng also stated in an interview with Bloomberg TV on the same day that they have obtained the VASP license in Dubai and are currently in discussions with multiple jurisdictions.
According to insiders, former Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng has relinquished voting control over Binance FZE and stated that the final step required by the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Agency (VARA) to grant the VASP license was for Zhao Changpeng to give up voting control over Binance FZE. Local officials want to ensure that Dubai does not deviate from the agreement reached between Binance and US authorities.
However, Zhao Changpeng is still the ultimate beneficiary of Binance FZE’s parent company in Abu Dhabi.
This move by Zhao Changpeng to relinquish voting control over Binance FZE is similar to his announcement of stepping down as CEO of Binance in late November last year, following the settlement agreement reached with the US Department of Justice. In both cases, Zhao Changpeng played the sacrificial role, helping Binance move forward smoothly on the path of regulatory compliance.
In the face of competition from rivals, before Binance obtained the Dubai VASP license, other cryptocurrency exchanges such as OKX and Crypto.com had already obtained VASP licenses in Dubai.
In terms of the NFT market, Binance also plans to terminate its support for Ordinals NFT, which benefits OKX and MagicEden, both of which operate Bitcoin NFT trading platforms. While Binance claims that this move is to streamline its NFT market products, whether they will collaborate to launch a new Bitcoin NFT trading market in the future is worth our attention.