Brexit Uncertainty Leads to High Demand for Binance

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, launched its European trading platform, Binance Jersey Exchange, on January 16, 2019.

Within less than 24 hours after launch, Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng (CZ) mentioned that the platform was overwhelmed with a massive wave of registration requests. CZ tweeted:

Users at the Exchange can trade Bitcoin and Ethereum in both EUR and GBP dominated accounts. The platform also offers clients with digital asset management services.

While the cryptocurrency market is still under duress after the 2018 bear market, current demand for BTC and ETH from UK market participants has increased meaningfully.

Forbes magazine recently explained that the Brexit uncertainty brought about a surge in demand for the Binance Jersey Exchange. Aside from economic recession, it appears that a no-deal Brexit will severely damage UK’s financial markets or threaten UK’s status as the traditional banking hub.

The Bank of England warned in November 2018 that if Brexit was unsuccessful, the value of the pound would plunge by 25%.

The CFO at Binance, Wei Zhou, said that Brexit uncertainty opens the opportunity to boost cryptocurrencies’ mass adoption within European markets, and launching the Binance Jersey Exchange will help achieve that outcome. Zhou stated:

“Expanding the cryptocurrency exchange markets with fiat currencies in the European region is opening new economic opportunities for Europeans as well as freedom from looming Brexit uncertainty where the pound and euro are also in concern. Through Binance Jersey, we want to help bridge the crypto-fiat channel for Europe and the U.K. as part of our global expansion to support broader cryptocurrency adoption.”

With Brexit, U.S. China trade war, and Fed rate hike uncertainty all hanging in the balance, multiple economists including former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen have voiced their concerns of an economic recession. Generically, it makes sense that political and economic instability would drive the need for an alternative store of value. That said, plenty of skeptics still believe that Bitcoin may not be a viable answer.

According to CoinMarketCap, at the time of publishing, the price per Bitcoin increased 0.66% to $3,675.19, compared to its record high of $20,000 in 2017. Bitcoin is still down more than 80% from peak.

eToro’s Senior Market Analyst Mati Greenspan mentioned to Forbes: "During the bull market in 2017 we definitely saw a strong interest in bitcoin from UK clients following the Brexit referendum. However, now that price direction is a bit more uncertain, it's more difficult to identify such national trends.”

Disclosure: I have no positions in any cryptocurrencies or related securities mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Photo: Pixabay

Author: Nicole Wei

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