Amidst the uncertainty over its legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Binance caught a break after it secured two licenses that would allow it to offer Bitcoin and other crypto asset services in El Salvador. The move is likely to boost the leading crypto exchange’s legitimacy in the crypto market.
Making the announcement on August first week, the exchange claimed that it now has licenses to operate in 18 markets.
The two permits secured by the exchange are the Digital Assets Services Provider license and the Binance are the Bitcoin Services Provider license. While the first one was granted by the Salvadoran National Commission of Digital Assets, the other one was provided by the Central Bank of El Salvador.
Daniel Acosta, who’s the general manager for Binance operations in Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia, said in a statement that the permits would enable the crypto exchange to expand its range of products and services including customized options to meet the needs of crypto users in El Salvador.
Earlier in January this year, the North American country’s Legislative Assembly passed a law for regulating digital securities and formed a set of rules for the country to roll out Bitcoin-based bonds, also known as Volcano bonds. Later in April, Bitfinex announced that the country had granted it its maiden license for a crypto service provider.
Since its launch in 2017, the Binance exchange has served as a popular source of information on live cryptocurrency prices and Top 10 cryptocurrencies. The Binance ecosystem comprises blockchain networks like the Binance Smart Chain and the cryptocurrency exchange. Its native cryptocurrency is the BNB token which is among the most-traded crypto coins globally.
Binance has been embroiled in a legal battle with the SEC since June after the regulatory body accused it of operating in the US as an “unregistered” exchange. The SEC had filed a lawsuit against another crypto exchange Coinbase the same month.
The commission had alleged that Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao had inflated its traded volume, misappropriated customer funds, and misled crypto users in the US about its market surveillance mechanism.
Disclaimer: This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.