Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has received approval to operate in Kazakhstan, marking a huge regulatory success for the exchange.
The Astana Financial Services Authority’s (AFSA) license enables Binance Kazakhstan to become the country’s first fully regulated Digital Asset Trading Facility (DATF).
Binance Kazakhstan will be able to run a virtual asset trading platform, engage in major investing operations, and provide digital asset custody services once the licensing procedure is finished. This move is expected to help the exchange better serve the local digital asset community.
Vishal Sacheendran, Binance’s Head of Regional Markets, expressed optimism about the preliminary permission and expressed a desire to continue serving consumers in Kazakhstan while also helping to the growth of the local digital asset ecosystem.
However, the corporation confronts a severe internal difficulty because its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), has been permanently barred from running the business. This development comes as part of a settlement with US authorities that resulted in his resignation.
Binance’s current CEO, Richard Teng, acknowledged Zhao’s lifetime ban and stated that Zhao will not be involved in the company’s day-to-day operations even when he is released from prison on September 29.
Zhao retains shareholder rights, but is barred from participating in operational management. The conditions of Zhao’s deal with the Department of Justice (DOJ) prohibit him from returning to any leadership capacity.
Zhao’s new career goal is to invest in blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and biotechnology startups rather than return to Binance. While Binance continues to expand abroad, particularly in Kazakhstan, the ban on its former CEO complicates its future operations. Despite this, Zhao’s stakeholder status permits him to have some control over the company’s destiny.
