Crypto Exchanges
By Dan Saada
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The "Buyer Beware" Defense Gets Tested. The whole case basically comes down to one question: does caveat emptor — buyer beware — still…
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Who's Actually Named — and Why It Gets Complicated. The lawsuit names several entities: Cayman Islands-registered Binance Holdings, UAE-based Nest…
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Nearly 1,700 British retail investors have filed suit against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao in London's High Court, chasing more than £150 million — roughly $200 million…
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The investors say Binance started marketing these leveraged products to UK retail clients in late 2019. No authorization. No proper licensing.
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The whole case basically comes down to one question: does caveat emptor — buyer beware — still hold when the seller was operating outside the law to begin with?
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Binance has said it will fight the claims. A company spokesperson said Binance takes its legal obligations seriously. That's pretty much all they've offered publicly so far.
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It's not the first time Binance has been here. In 2023, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Binance and Changpeng Zhao with running an illegal derivatives exchange.
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The lawsuit names several entities: Cayman Islands-registered Binance Holdings, UAE-based Nest Exchange, and a string of unnamed operators.
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See also: UK Crypto Firms Face February 2027 FCA Authorization Cutoff
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And Binance's position in Europe isn't exactly strong right now. The company withdrew from European markets after failing to secure an EU license.
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The case also lands at a moment when regulators globally are still figuring out how to handle crypto exchanges that operated in legal gray zones for years.
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Should the court find these derivative deals void under the Financial Services and Markets Act, it won't just hurt Binance.
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Changpeng Zhao's personal inclusion in the suit is worth watching too. He's no longer running Binance day-to-day, but his name is on the claim.
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More context: Chinas Open-Source AI Push Puts Crypto and Tech Investors on Edge
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No trial date has been set publicly. No details yet on how long proceedings are expected to run.
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