Binance Starts Offering Crypto CFDs to Wholesale Australian Traders

The Australian subsidiary of Binance announced the launch of cryptocurrency contracts for differences (CFDs), targeted at wholesale traders in the country. These over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives are offered under an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license.

The launch came after Binance terminated offering all derivatives products in Australia last August following a general warning issued by the local financial market regulator against unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges.

“Launching crypto derivatives under an AFSL delivers on our core strategy of becoming a regulated institution in Australia,” said Leigh Travers, the Director of Binance Australia Derivatives.

“The Binance Australia Derivatives products will enable wholesale customers the opportunity to hedge their crypto portfolio as well as grow the total size of Australian crypto markets.”

These OTC derivatives products have been launched in addition to the spot crypto-fiat offerings of Binance Australia which are offered to retail crypto traders as well. However, those spot services do not require Binance to have a financial services license.

As seen on Binance’s Australia-specific website, the OTC derivatives products include perpetual, which are settled against USDT and BUSD, and delivery contracts, only for Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Commenting on the new derivatives product launch in Australia, Binance Founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao said: “To attract the next billion crypto users, Binance is focused on building user trust through regulatory compliance, security and strategic partnerships. The Australian crypto market is a unique opportunity due to the robustness of the financial services regime.”

Binance, which is the largest global crypto exchange in terms of trading volume, captured the market with unlicensed services, but has now changed strategies and is obtaining regulatory approvals. Recently, the exchange received crypto licenses in Dubai, Bahrain, Italy, France and a few more.

Meanwhile, FTX, which is one of Binance’s top competitors, established an Australia unit and acquired an AFS license to offer crypto OTC products locally.