Binance Faces Regulatory Scrutiny In Israel, Suspends Services

Israel has joined the growing list of regulators investigating Binance's activities and has requested the crypto exchange to offer a clarification for its actions in the nation. In response, Binance has reportedly suspended operations and marketing to Israelis.

According to a Thursday article from Israel-based news site Globes, Israel's Capital Market Authority (CMA) demanded Binance to submit details on the services it provided to Israelis, as well as any licenses under which it operated.

The authority, which is in charge of issuing licenses to cryptocurrency companies, apparently never received an application from Binance authorizing the exchange to do business in Israel.

Binance has suspended marketing to Israeli citizens and disabled various accessibility features in response to the CMA's complaints.

According to Ben Samocha, the founder of the local crypto media company CryptoJungle, the exchange has removed Hebrew language support from its website and delisted the Israeli shekel for credit card purchases.

According to Globes, around 200,000 Israelis trade cryptocurrencies on the platform.

The scope of the CMA's investigation is still unknown. However, based on Binance's reply, the company appears to be bracing for the worse by preemptively withdrawing support for Israelis.

Regulators worldwide have warned that Binance was not a registered firm last year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom declared in June 2021 that the exchange was not authorized to engage in any regulated activity, such as offering futures or derivatives trading, without the FCA's prior written authorization.

Binance has reduced futures and derivatives offerings across Europe in response to regulatory pressure. While the company's CEO Changpeng Zhao has previously indicated that Binance will be more aggressive in complying with local regulations, the exchange is still facing regulatory challenges similar to those it previously encountered.

With a population of about a million people, Israel appears to have embraced the entry of digital assets within the correct legislative framework. When President Isaac Herzog took the oath of office in July, he was given a non-fungible token symbolizing the shekel.

The country's central bank has been considering the adoption of the digital shekel for over five years.