Which exchanges have official licenses?

Most crypto exchanges operate in a pirate way, taking advantage of loopholes in the laws of different countries. But this is coming to an end: regulators in Europe and Asia are increasingly issuing warnings that platforms for trading and exchanging digital money may be closed if their owners do not obtain official licenses and begin to adhere to established rules.

Recently, Binance received an order to obtain registration from the Central Bank of the Netherlands and Malaysia Binance, and before that Huobi and Bybit.

But, on the other hand, regulators are interested in the taxes paid by digital platforms, so they promise to facilitate the procedure for obtaining permits and tax benefits for companies that begin to cooperate with the authorities.

The most friendly jurisdictions for obtaining a license for trading and storage of cryptocurrencies are:

• Singapore;
  
• Malta;
  
• Cyprus;
  
• Estonia;
  
• Hong Kong;
  
• USA.
  

We have prepared information regarding large crypto exchanges that were able to obtain official licenses and legally protect their users from possible illegal actions with on the part of scammers, as well as from their own bankruptcy.

Coinbase

The largest crypto exchange, launched in 2012. It has headquarters in Washington, but positions itself as a transnational company. Its assets are estimated at $223 billion at the end of March 2021.

Coinbase services are used by traders in almost 40 countries, but the company has few official licenses.

The exchange received permission to operate from regulators:

• Germany (June 2021). Issued by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
  
• Japan (June 2021) Issued by the Financial Services Agency.
  
• Malta (March 2020) Licensed by the Malta Electronic Finance Institution (EMI).
  
• USA (March 2017). Issued by the Department of Financial Services of several states: New York, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Minnesota.
  
• Singapore (September 2018) Issued by the Central Bank of the country.
  

The management of the exchange officially announced plans to obtain a license from Indian regulators and begin operating in this country by the end of 2021 year.

Huobi

Huobi is a Chinese exchange that began operating in 2013. According to the company's official data, its assets amount to $13.86 billion.

In July 2021 she left her country and received a residence permit in the Seychelles. The platform has official offices in the USA, Russia, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea..

The crypto exchange manages to achieve the favor of regulators by merging with large companies from different jurisdictions and purchasing controlling stakes in regulated sites.

1. After acquiring Japanese exchange in September 2018 Bittrade, which had an FSA license, Huobi Japan Holding was given the opportunity to operate in the cryptocurrency market of the Land of the Rising Sun.
   
2. The exchange received official permission to operate in Hong Kong in June 2020. To do this, the company acquired a 75% stake in the national computer hardware manufacturer Pantronics Holdings, which was close to bankruptcy at that time.
   
3. In 2018, Gibraltar issued the exchange a DLT license, which gives the right to use distributed registry technology in financial activities. This happened after Huobi Technology invested heavily in the peninsula's economy. 
   
4. In December 2020, a subsidiary of Huobi Trust Company received a trust license to conduct financial activities in Nevada and Wyoming (USA).
   

Since Ukraine and Russia still do not have clear regulations regarding digital assets, Huobi is able to operate in these countries without obtaining licenses.

Binance

Binance Efforts obtaining official permission from global financial regulators has not yet been successful. And even strict measures to control the mandatory verification of traders do not help it. 

Moreover, digital-friendly Malta has brought lawsuit against the exchange and refused to issue a license.

Changpeng Zhao is already looking for the position of CEO of the company is a person with extensive experience working in regulatory authorities in order to launch the bureaucratic machine and finally obtain official work permits.

Issuing a license to this exchange also refused:

• USA;
  
• Netherlands;
  
• Italy;
  
• Poland;
  
• Germany;
  
• South Korea;
  
• Japan;
  
• Great Britain;
  
• Thailand;
  
• Cayman Islands.

In China, the exchange was blocked and traders lost access to their accounts. It was possible to withdraw funds only using a VPN..

The claims from regulatory authorities and banks are the same: the platform is accused of money laundering using tokenized shares and tax evasion. Only a complete change of internal policy and rebranding of the company can save Binance from the wrath of the fiscal authorities.

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