FCA eyes Binance following the launch of its own fiat-to-crypto payments provider Bifinity

The biggest crypto exchange platform Binance has set up Bifinity, its own fiat-to-crypto payments provider, aiming to support businesses become “crypto-ready,” as TheCoinRise reported.

Bitfinity, which was built last year and launched to the general public on Monday, supports 50 crypto tokens and all primary payment methods, including Mastercard and Visa. As per the announcement by Binance, the new system enables merchants to accept payments in crypto and “get their business crypto-ready.”

Bifinity has also strategically joined hands with the publicly traded digital assets financial services firm Eqonex (EQOS) with a $36 million convertible loan (It can be converted into a stake in the borrower under certain conditions).

FCA eyes Binance

Binance saw massive regulatory pressure last year and has been a matter of concern for the FCA in the past. The watchdog published a statement today regarding a partnership with a company it monitors.

“The FCA did not have powers to assess the fitness and propriety of the new beneficial owners or the change in control before the transaction was completed,” it stated.

It went on to add that it can take action on suspending or canceling the registration of crypto-asset business if it is not satisfied with the way the firm or its beneficial owners operate. The regulatory body further added:

“The FCA also has powers to suspend or cancel a firm’s crypto-asset registration on a number of grounds, including where a firm has not complied with obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations.”

However, it is uncertain how the FCA intends to take appropriate steps. Binance claimed it had completely resumed euro and sterling transactions over the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) and the United Kingdom’s Faster Payments Service networks. Sepa was suspended in July of last year and began to reactivate its operations in January 2022.

Recently, Binance strategically took a stake in a regulated crypto exchange to return back to Malaysia.