US Users Coming Back to Binance? Not So Fast

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a staff advisory that aims to clarify how foreign boards of trade (FBOTs) can interact with US-based clients in a compliant manner.

For several years, a lot of American projects had been forced to move offshore due to a rather hostile regulatory environment. Now, the CFTC wants to welcome them back under a proper regulatory framework.

Acting Chair Caroline Pham, who is reportedly on track to join cryptocurrency platform Moonpay, is framing this as the process of onshoring cryptocurrency activity.

Foreign exchanges could potentially start serving US customers without setting up local entities if they are licensed under a compatible regulatory regime.

Are Americans actually coming back to Binance?

Several prominent social media accounts, as well as some media outlets, have started circulating oversimplified and misleading headlines about such massive cryptocurrency trading platforms as Binance and OKX being able to welcome US traders.

However, the CFTC advisory does not mean that this will necessarily be the case since there are still strict compliance requirements for foreign boards of trade.

As some have noted, the main takeaway here is that the CFTC wants to give American cryptocurrency builders a way back to US soil since the advisory is specifically targeted at them.

"...American companies that were forced to set up shop in foreign jurisdictions to facilitate crypto asset trading now have a path back to U.S. markets," the staff advisory said.

Hence, it is pretty clear that offshore exchanges will not be just granted blanket access.

Binance banning US users

Binance started banning US users around June 2019 due to heightened regulatory scrutiny.

The top exchange has since faced numerous accusations of trying to circumvent such restrictions.

In fact, the CFTC sued the trading giant in 2023, accusing it of luring in US customers.

Binance ended up settling with the CFTC for nearly $3 billion.