Starting October 14, 2021, Binance will stop supporting stock tokens as announced by the exchange.
“As the crypto ecosystem evolves, and as Binance grows with the community, we are continually evaluating our products and working with our partners to meet our users’ needs.,” the company said.
The exchange took this step “to shift our commercial focus to other product offerings,” Binance said.
Users have 90 days to close positions. On October 15th this will happen automatically.
Clients from the European Economic Area and Switzerland can transfer their assets to the service of the investment company CM-Equity AG. Binance said it will launch “approximately two to four weeks before October 15, 2021.”
In April, Binance announced stock tokens listing, adding Tesla, and later, Coinbase Stock Token.
The same month, the exchange announced the listing of tokens backed by a portfolio of real stocks from Microstrategy, Apple and Microsoft.
Some European regulators were concerned about the new Binance service. The Financial Times reported that the regulators in the UK and Germany have checked its compliance with local legislation. In late April, BaFin warned investors about Binance’s potential violation of securities laws right after the launch of stock tokens trading.
As a reminder, in June, the FCA banned Binance Markets Limited from any regulated activity in the country without prior written approval.
After that, such banks as Barclays and Santander banned UK customers from transferring funds to the exchange, furthermore, Clear Junction payment system refused to process related payments. Later on the Cayman Islands began checking company activity, Thailand accused Binance of operating without a license, Japan also issued a warning. Polish regulators warned customers about the risks of operation on the platform, while Italy and Malta warned about unregulated activities of Binance.
Earlier, the exchange stopped serving residents of the Canadian province of Ontario and suspended the acceptance of euro deposits through SEPA.
Amid pressure from regulators, company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao issued an open letter in which he spoke about Binance’s plans to ensure compliance and protect customers.