Almost 1,700 UK investors have filed a £150 million ($200 million) lawsuit against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), claiming the exchange illegally offered crypto derivatives without approval.
The lawsuit says Binance kept offering leveraged crypto products to UK retail customers even after the regulator banned them. Binance denies any wrongdoing and plans to defend itself in court. This case adds to Binance’s growing legal and regulatory troubles in different countries.
The lawsuit was filed in the London High Court and is led by KP Law, which represents the investors. The law firm says Binance’s leveraged tokens, futures, and options broke the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
The claim says UK retail investors could still access these products even though the FCA banned their sale to retail customers in January 2021. KP Law argues there were not enough safeguards to stop UK users from trading them.
Binance rejected the allegations, saying it remains committed to complying with applicable laws and will respond through the appropriate legal channels.
One investor reportedly lost over $132,000 after using Binance’s derivatives products. Other investors are said to have lost tens of thousands of pounds. KP Law thinks many more users may have been affected and is still looking for more claimants.
This lawsuit comes at a tough time for Binance. The exchange recently missed the July deadline to get a MiCA-compliant license in the EU and has also faced claims about transactions with sanctioned Iranian entities, which the company strongly denies.
Binance’s UK business has faced pressure since June 2021, when the FCA stopped Binance Markets Limited from doing regulated activities without written approval.
The result of this case could affect how crypto exchanges offer complex investment products to retail customers and might influence future enforcement in other countries.
Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao face a claim from nearly 1,700 investors who allege that the world’s biggest crypto exchange offered risky derivative products to retail traders without approval from the UK financial regulator. https://t.co/WD2b0a6i0w pic.twitter.com/V2NmzBjLqP
— Financial Times (@FT) June 30, 2026
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