Cryptocurrency exchanges face numerous challenges regularly. For example, the central bank of the Netherlands (DNB) fined Binance Holdings 3.3 million euros for offering local crypto services while facing Binance registration issues and not registering with the DNB.

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The country’s central bank officially announced on July 18 that the regulator imposed the administrative fine in April 2022. According to the announcement, the cryptocurrency exchange objected to the fine on June 2, 2022.

The central bank pointed out that any company offering crypto services in the Netherlands must register with the country’s central bank in accordance with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act. The DNB also mentioned that the central bank had previously issued a public warning to Binance on Aug. 18, 2021.

Regulations in the Netherlands

According to the announcement, the central bank imposed a larger penalty on Binance due to its high trading volumes. The exchange had a large number of customers in the Netherlands, and its daily trading volumes reached $13.7 billion. This was further impacted by ongoing Binance registration issues.

The penalty was also increased because of Binance’s prolonged violations. These occurred from May 2020, when the DNB introduced the registration obligation, until December 2021, when the investigation closed. The DNB considers these violations to be very serious.

The central bank also mentioned that Binance had applied for registration, and the process is now being addressed. As Binance complied with the law and became more transparent, the central bank reduced the fine by 5%.

A Binance spokesperson stated that the company had met Dutch regulatory requirements through its local entity, Binance Nederland BV.

Binance and Spain

Binance knows how to cope with challenges. The cryptocurrency exchange is now registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) by the Bank of Spain. This allows Binance to offer custody and crypto exchange services in the country.

On July 8, Binance announced that its Spanish subsidiary, Moon Tech Spain, was registered as a VASP by the central bank on July 7. The exchange applied for registration in January. It can now provide fiat-to-digital asset exchange and wallet custody services while complying with Spain’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing rules.

CEO Changpeng Zhao said the development in Spain reflects the company’s hard work to protect users and improve the platform.

Quim Giralt, director of Binance Spain, also made a comment. He stated that Binance’s next move would be to expand the team in Spain and make its services more accessible. Giralt noted that it would be onboarding more local talent to cater to the local market and contribute to growing the ecosystem within Spain, despite the ongoing Binance registration issues.

In May,  Binance secured VASP approval from France’s financial market regulator, Autorité Des Marchés Financiers, giving the exchange the necessary registration to offer its services in the country.