Binance plans to apply for a license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK five years after the regulator prevented its British unit from carrying out regulated activities.
The Telegraph revealed the plan on Saturday. The United Kingdom opens the application window on September 30. This gives the exchange a path to resume operating in a market currently served from overseas.
Binance license offer to the FCA faces a narrow window
The FCA published its final rules for crypto on June 30. Three dates are now relevant.
Applications open on September 30, 2026
Applications close on February 28, 2027
The full regime begins on October 25, 2027
Companies will not be able to migrate automatically to the new system. The old records tied to anti-money laundering will not be converted automatically. Each platform will have to obtain new approval under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the law governing the UK financial sector.
This access was restricted previously as well. The FCA received 273 applications to register crypto companies between January 2020 and May 2022. Only 35 were approved. Another 139 firms withdrew before any decision.
Applicants also need to be present in the UK. The regulator allows a foreign exchange to apply through a UK branch, but that route has an important detail. Applying via a branch triggers a full review, subjecting the entire international operation to UK rules.
For Binance, this is the main challenge. Regulators have been questioning its global structure for years, not just the small UK subsidiary. A local board in the UK is expected as part of the response.
Why does the 2021 ban still affect the application?
The FCA opinion from June 25, 2021 still weighs on the company.
“… Based on the company’s engagement to date, the FCA considers that it cannot be supervised effectively,” according to an FCA statement from June 25, 2021.
Binance Markets Limited returned its authorizations in the UK in May 2023. At present, no Binance subsidiary holds a UK license, so the new process starts from scratch.
The scope of the operation shrank even further in October. The FCA imposed restrictions on Rebuildingsociety.com, a small firm that approved Binance ads in the UK. Binance stopped accepting new UK users at 5:00 p.m. on October 16, 2023. Existing accounts kept trading.
The UK public remained active since then. A US$200 million lawsuit involving losses from leveraged trades is still being considered in UK courts.
Compliance history will be decisive
Washington set the benchmark in November 2023. Binance pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws and economic sanctions, agreeing to pay more than US$4.3 billion.
Founder Changpeng Zhao served four months in prison in 2024. Donald Trump pardoned him in October 2025. Zhao later said he underestimated compliance and political issues when structuring the exchange.
More recent accusations are also being investigated. This year’s U.S. reports indicate that Iranian sanctioned networks moved funds through the platform. Binance denies the allegations and has already sued The Wall Street Journal for defamation.
“… Binance has zero tolerance for sanctions violations or unlawful activity. We reject any suggestion that Binance knowingly allowed its platform to be used by sanctioned agents,” a Binance spokesperson said in a statement to The Telegraph
Meanwhile, the exchange tightens its own restrictions. This month, it blocked 11 other platforms for European users. Few operators responded.
BNB, the token of the BNB Chain, was trading near US$605 on Monday, down 0.2% over the past 24 hours.
What happens next?
Binance will not be able to serve UK customers under the new rules until it receives FCA approval. No authorization is expected before the start of the full regime in October 2027.
The market’s potential shrank in the meantime. FCA research indicated that 8% of UK adults have crypto in 2025, down from 12% the previous year.
This shows that the application is more relevant than just one market. If a firm classified by the FCA as unsupervisable manages to get through this process, every competitor will know the real price of entry.
The article Binance could return to the UK with a new license was first published in BeInCrypto Brasil.