Cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance has announced plans to launch a trading platform in the UK that will enable institutional and retail traders to buy and sell online.
Binance expects to offer trading on as many as 65 digital tokens at launch later this summer, with the platform regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.
The platform differs from the crypto exchange that Binance currently operates in the UK in offering direct currency trading using pounds and euros. Users will be able to convert from fiat to cryptocurrency using the UK Faster Payments Service and the Single Euro Payments Area network. In addition, Binance plans to enable customers to open virtual bank accounts that are tied to the cryptocurrency trading network.
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For Binance, the launch is a way to take advantage of cryptocurrency’s growing popularity among institutional investors.
“As crypto services mature and evolve, we’re able to create new options to engage and capture interest from a wider audience with varying risk appetites,” Binance UK Director Teana Baker-Taylor said of the news.
Fiat-to-cryptocurrency trading app
The planned UK platform isn’t Binance’s first foray into building a fiat-to-cryptocurrency trading app, as the company currently operates similar platforms in the US, Singapore, Korea, Uganda, and the isle of Jersey.
Across these countries, Binance’s base of institutional investors grew 47% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2020. The volume of digital currency traded by these clients has also grown by 113% year-over-year.
The new UK platform will initially launch with only desktop and web interfaces, but Binance expects to add a mobile app later in the year. Traders will be able to choose between a 'Basic' interface with only buy, sell, and currency conversion tools and an 'Advanced' view that offers insight into Binance's order book.
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