Binance Still Onboarding Fiat and Offering 50X to 125X Leverage

Of the many interesting response to my latest blogs, the most informative came from a UK trader who shared screenshots with me (below) depicting widespread fiat depositing mechanisms and allowance of 50X leverage on USDT perpetuals.

After the 19 May crash precipitated class action law suits against Binance from all over the globe, CZ announced the max. leverage had already been reduced to 20X for new users, with all users having the same reduction within weeks. The tweet below says it all. Yet, more than four months later my contact was still able to apply 50X leverage on any product traded on Binance's futures platform and his friend in Zurich could access up to 125X on the inverse USD products.

Five months ago the FCA banned Binance Markets Ltd from undertaking regulated activity in the UK -- and from June 30, Binance were required to notify users of this ruling, in a prominent place on its website and apps. Yet, the same UK trader is able to onboard any number of fiat currencies, using SWIFT or credit cards, to Binance.com (see screenshots below). UK residents can get registered for deposits and withdrawals soon after sending KYC documents confirming their residency.

Also, there are no notices displayed to UK resident users of Binance.com that allude to the FCA ban or any access limitations. Quite the opposite. In fact, this Binance education article actively encourages UK users to open GBP accounts, with a step-by-step account of the on-boarding process. Strange that no instruction about withdrawing GBP are inlcuded.

Binance.com has always been the site that UK residents use to trade and it is the only version that offers leverage and margin trading. The FCA ban did nothing more than prevent bank transfers, which is why the only GBP on-boarding option is by credit card.

Carol Alexander, 14 November 2021