Binance Could Return to the UK with New Licence

Binance plans to apply for a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) license in Britain, five years after the regulator barred its UK arm from regulated activity.

The Telegraph reported the plan on Saturday. Britain opens its application window on September 30. That gives the exchange one route back into a market it now serves from overseas.

Binance FCA License Bid Faces a Narrow Window

The FCA published its final crypto rules on June 30. Three dates now matter.

• Applications open on September 30, 2026
• Applications close on February 28, 2027
• The full regime starts on October 25, 2027

Firms cannot drift into the new system. Old anti-money laundering registrations will not convert automatically. Every platform must win fresh approval under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the law governing UK finance.

This gateway has been narrow before. The FCA received 273 crypto registration applications between January 2020 and May 2022. It approved 35. Another 139 firms withdrew before any decision.

Applicants also need a UK presence. The regulator will let an overseas platform apply through a British branch, yet that route carries a catch. Branch applications trigger a whole-firm assessment, pulling the entire overseas business into UK rules.

For Binance, that is the sharp end. Regulators have questioned its global structure for years, not its small British shell. A UK board is expected as part of the answer.

Why the 2021 Ban Still Shapes the Bid

The FCA’s verdict of June 25, 2021 still hangs over the company.

“Based upon the Firm’s engagement to date, the FCA considers that the Firm is not capable of being effectively supervised,” FCA supervisory notice, June 25, 2021.

Binance Markets Limited then handed back its UK permissions in May 2023. No Binance entity is authorized in Britain today, so the coming application starts from zero.

Its reach shrank again that October. The FCA restricted Rebuildingsociety.com, the small firm approving Binance’s UK adverts. Binance stopped taking new UK users at 5pm on October 16, 2023. Existing accounts kept trading.

British customers have not gone quiet since. A $200 million UK lawsuit over leveraged trading losses is still in the courts.

Compliance Record Will Decide the Outcome

Washington set the benchmark in November 2023. Binance pleaded guilty to breaking anti-money laundering and sanctions law. It agreed to pay more than $4.3 billion.

Founder Changpeng Zhao served four months in 2024. Donald Trump pardoned him in October 2025. Zhao has since said he underestimated compliance and politics while building the exchange.

Newer claims are harder to file away. US reports this year alleged that sanctioned Iranian networks moved money through the platform. Binance denies it and has sued the Wall Street Journal for defamation.

“Binance has zero tolerance for sanctions violations or illicit activity. We reject any suggestion that Binance knowingly allowed sanctioned actors to use our platform,” Binance spokesperson, statement given to The Telegraph

Meanwhile the exchange is tightening its own perimeter. It has blacklisted 11 other platforms for European users this month. Traders have barely blinked.

BNB, the token behind BNB Chain, traded near $605 on Monday, down 0.2% over 24 hours.

What Happens Next

Binance cannot serve UK customers under the new rules until the FCA signs off. No approval is due before the regime starts in October 2027.

The prize has shrunk in the meantime. FCA research found 8% of UK adults held crypto in 2025, down from 12% a year earlier.

That makes the filing bigger than one market. If a firm the FCA once called unsupervisable clears this gateway, every rival will learn the real entry price.