Leading crypto exchange Binance today announced that its Spanish subsidiary, Moon Tech Spain, was registered with the Bank of Spain as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) on July 7.
“Moon Tech’s registration in Spain is an acknowledgment of the hard work and commitment of our teams to providing a platform that places user protection above all else,” said Binance chief Changpeng Zhao in a statement.
Binance began its VASP registration on January 28. Now, following yesterday’s approval, the crypto exchange can offer its services across Spain in full compliance with the central bank’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist funding (CTF) rules.
The Bank of Spain will also monitor the compliance of the local entity and its directors with the country’s commercial and professional honorability standards.
“We have invested significantly in compliance and introduced AMLD 5 and 6 compliant tools and policies to ensure that our platform remains the safest and most trustworthy in the industry,” added Zhao.
Binance’s European Plans
Today’s news makes Spain the third country in the European Union to have green-lit Binance.
In May this year, both France and Italy licensed the exchange as an official digital asset provider.
Back in April, Binance secured floorspace in Paris’s famous start-up incubator Station F. Binance’s opening in Station F is one part of “Objective Moon,” a €100 million ($101 million) Web3 and crypto investment initiative in France, which the exchange announced last November.
The initiative aims to develop a Binance Research and Development hub in France to recruit talent across the country and continent.
Binance is also developing online education materials for French learners, and building a professional network called the “Objective Moon Accelerator,” which will connect companies within the sector.
A spokesman told Decrypt that “the EU has the potential to become a frontrunner in the crypto and blockchain industry. With a consistent regulatory framework on the horizon with MiCA, there’s a huge opportunity for Europe to position itself as the global hub for our industry.”
Meanwhile, rival crypto exchanges FTX and Coinbase are also expanding their frontiers into Europe.
In March, the Cypriot Securities and Exchange Commission approved the launch of FTX Europe, now the second affiliate of the popular FTX exchange after FTX US launched in May 2019.
Coinbase reported in June that it too has plans to hire a regional manager to oversee the exchange’s European expansion.