The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority registered Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, as a financial institution for virtual currency management and trading in Sweden. This is the seventh EU country in which the platform has been granted such a license, following Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Cyprus, and Lithuania.
Binance set to offer crypto services in Sweden
In a Jan. 11 press release, the entity stated that the financial regulator had awarded Binance Nordics AB’s registration status on Jan. 10 after “months of constructive engagement” with the company. As a result of this ruling, residents of Sweden can now use Binance’s cryptocurrency services.
Sweden fully adopts EU laws and has further local requirements, so we have been careful to ensure that Binance Nordics AB has adopted risk and AML policies to match this exacting standard. Our next big task will be the successful migration and launch of local operations, including hiring of local talent, organizing more events, and delivering more crypto education in Sweden.
Roy van Krimpen, Binance’s lead in the region
The approval allows local users to access its products and services, including purchasing cryptocurrencies with euros, withdrawing money in exchange for fiat currency, trading, and staking.
The most recent registration, according to Binance’s Head of Europe and MENA, Richard Teng, shows the company’s dedication to working with authorities to “uphold global standards.” He also added:
We are deeply grateful for the support from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority throughout the application process and for the approval. Sweden is now amongst the growing list of global jurisdictions that have granted regulatory approval to Binance.
Richard Teng
The Swedish financial regulator’s decision reinforces the exchanges’ recent dominance in the crypto space. In the past, authorities in some nations, including the US, UK, Canada, and Japan, have taken action against the exchange’s operations and alerted potential investors to the dangers associated with digital assets.
In light of the challenges it encountered, notably following the Terra Luna meltdown, the entity’s entry into Europe has been a significant triumph for the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by traded volume.
Binance defies the crypto winter
While many crypto firms are announcing layoffs and other cost-cutting measures to survive the crypto winter, Binance plans to grow its operations and hire more employees.
According to a CNBC report, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) stated that the exchange wants to boost its workforce by 15% to 30% in 2023. This followed a substantial year of staff expansion in which the company’s headcount increased from 3,000 in 2021 to over 8,000 by the end of 2022.
The hiring plans are part of the company’s efforts to become “well-organized” before the next crypto bull run, according to CZ, who conceded that the exchange is currently “not super efficient.”
We will continue to build, and hopefully we will ramp up again before the next bull market.
Changpeng Zhao
This announcement from CZ comes at a time when several of the industry’s other exchanges have been cutting staff and expenses. This includes Kraken’s 30% reduction in staff in November and Huobi and Coinbase‘s announcements that they will lay off 20% of their workforce in 2023.
This is the second round of layoffs for Coinbase in the past year, and they have also announced that they will cease operations in Japan as a cost-cutting move.
