One of the largest exchanges in the world Crypto.com is one step ahead of competitor Binance as it announced on July 28 that it has successfully obtained regulatory approval to operate in the Netherlands, a region where Binance had previously failed to obtain the necessary license. 

Crypto.com’s Approval A ‘Big Win’

The Singapore-headquartered exchange has gotten approval from the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) to provide crypto services in the country. According to the firm, the approval came following a “comprehensive review” of its business operations and its compliance with the Netherlands’ Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft). 

“This registration approval from De Nederlandsche Bank is a significant milestone for our business and the latest testament to our commitment to compliance. We look forward to continuing to work with DNB and other regulators around the world,” said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, in a statement. 

This move further highlights the need for crypto entities to collaborate with regulators worldwide as the industry pushes for mainstream adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. 

Crypto.com has continued to successfully collaborate with regulators worldwide as it has received the necessary license to operate in certain regains, including Spain, Italy, the Cayman Islands, Dubai, Singapore, Greece, the UK, South Korea, Australia, France, and Cyprus. 

Binance Failing Where Others Have Succeded 

Crypto.com joined a list of centralized exchanges that the Dutch central bank has approved (36 in total), including Coinbase Europe, eToro, OKCoin, BitPay, and Bitstamp.

As such, it turns eyes to Binance with speculations on why the biggest exchange by trading volume had failed to secure the required license in the Netherlands, considering how friendly it is to entities in the digital assets space. 

Binance had, last month, notified its customers in the Netherlands via an email that deposits on its platform would be disabled from July 17. Customers were also informed that the platform was blocking NFT trade and NFT staking for users in the region. 

It is also worth mentioning that the Netherlands isn’t the only European country where Binance has failed to get the required regulatory approval. It also faced similar registration challenges in Cyprus and Germany, forcing the exchange to cease operations in those markets. 

Last month, Germany’s financial regulator BaFin failed to grant Binance’s application for a license. This came after the Managing Director of Binance in the country admitted that the prerequisites for gaining approval were pretty stringent. 

The exchange has stated that it will work on adhering to Europe’s crypto-related regulation known as MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) as it aims to make a comeback in these European countries.