Dubai’s VARA Seeks More Information from Binance, Other Crypto Players

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the regulator of the digital assets in the emirate, called on Binance to give more information about its business requirements as part of its efforts to tighten regulatory guardrails in Dubai, Bloomberg cited three anonymous sources.

According to the sources, VARA asked Binance to provide more information about the exchange’s ownership structure, auditing processes, and governance. VARA has also done the same with global crypto players who are interested in being licensed in Dubai.

The sources also pointed out that VARA asked for information on ownership, board procedures, and auditing at the global group level of Binance. Such kind of information is supposed to take a long time to address due to the leading exchanges’ size and complexity.

“VARA wants to turn Dubai into a capital for the digital-assets economy while safeguarding its business ties with Western jurisdictions like Europe that are adopting more muscular crypto regulations,” CEO of The MENA Catalysts said, commenting on VARA’s move.

Binance is also currently facing more pressure from the regulators in the US. Last week Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Zhao denounced allegations made by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the United States, rejecting its recent remarks about Binance’s manipulation of the market overall.

In a statement published by the Binance website, Zhao described such claims as incomplete recitation of facts. Zhao stressed that his crypto exchange does not trade for profit or “manipulate” the market under any circumstances but “trades” in a number of situations, saying Binance’s revenues are in crypto. He referred to the need to convert some cryptocurrencies from time to time to cover expenses in fiat or other cryptocurrencies.

The US financial regulator has accused Binance and its CEO of illegally operating the country in a lawsuit that seeks fines and an injunction against the world’s prominent crypto trading exchange. It also accused him of ignoring the US laws regarding the registration and regulatory requirements, saying it does extensive solicitation of and access to US customers.

Binance responded and noted that Binance is committed to transparency and cooperation with regulators and law enforcement (LE) in the US and globally.

The CFTC accused Binance and its CEO of insider trading, an accusation which was refuted by Zhao. He said that Binance has a 90-day no-day-trading rule for employees which prevents any employees from actively trading in addition to preventing them from any future trading.