Binance, the worlds largest crypto exchange by trading volumes, is now at the risk of losing its global dominance. The recent regulatory crackdown from some of the top regulators worldwide is putting Binance in a bad light.
Institutional-grade crypto market data provider Kaiko notes that the recent “onslaught” of regulatory action is putting pressure on Binances overwhelming global dominance. The crypto exchange is facing restrictions at multiple locations like the U.K, Thailand, Cayman Islands, Canada, and even Singapore.
As a result of this several banking and payment partners of Binance have started cutting ties with the exchange. The recent one is from British banking Barclays which has blocked its customers from transferring funds to Binance.
The thing with Binance is that it has been constantly changing base over the last few years. The crypto exchanges lack of global headquarters has been the major reason behind the scrutiny. Originally started in Asia, Binance moved out of China following the 2017 crackdown.
Based on the trading volumes of the BTC/USDT trading pairs, Binance relies heavily on the European and the North American market.
Courtesy: Kaiko
As we can see in the above chart, Binance still dominates the market in terms of the hourly trading volume. But it looks like Huobi is closing some gaps with volume spikes at the overlap between EU and US trading hours.
On the other hand, OKEx majorly competes with Binance during Asia trading hours, meaning it is more like a regional competitor rather than a global competitor. Interestingly, despite this recent crackdown, theres no drop in the BTC holdings of the Binance exchange.
Barclays Prohibits U.K. customers to Transact With Binance
London-based British banking giant Barclays noted that U.K. customers can no longer transfer funds to Binance using a debit card or a credit card. The ban comes amid the recent crackdown by the topmost regulator – Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – two weeks back. In a response to a customer tweet, Barclays said:
“It‘s our responsibility to help protect your money. With this in mind we’ve taken the decision to stop payments made by credit/debit card to Binance until further notice, to help keep your money safe”.
Payment gateways and banking institutions are wanting to play it safe and avoid any friction with the regulators.
