What happened
Like most cryptocurrencies in late trading Monday, Binance Coin (BNB -0.46%) was on the rise, with a nearly 6% gain. Generally speaking, investors were piling into a range of top cryptos after a blend of negative developments and pronouncements drove down their prices across the weekend.
Binance Coin advanced more than most today because it also had some encouraging news of its own to report.
So what
There are a vast number of bullish investors in the crypto space these days, and many are waiting on slumps to pounce on target assets. That seemed to be the broad dynamic on Monday, and Binance Coin -- the native cryptocurrency of Binance, which happens to be the largest crypto exchange by volume -- benefited accordingly.
This was compounded by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao's assertion to U.K. newspaper The Telegraph that his company will open its operations in that country in the next 6 to 18 months. This is quite the note of confidence, given that in June, the country's finance industry regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), effectively barred the company from such a move without its express written consent.
Zhao claims that Binance's relationship with the FCA has improved significantly. He added that the company also has several hundred "compliance people" at work in the country smoothing its regulatory path.
"We're fully reengaged [in the U.K.]," Zhao told the newspaper. "We're making a number of very substantial changes in organizational structures, product offerings, our internal processes, and the way we work with regulators."
Now what
Despite its separation from the rest of the European Union thanks to Brexit, the U.K. is still a major financial services hub in that part of the world. So if Binance can indeed pull off its return to the country, it'll give the company -- and Binance Coin -- a chance at becoming a major force on the European crypto scene.