Crypto juggernaut Binance will cease offering its futures trading offering as of Friday, citing a desire to comply with local regulations.

Binance is also cutting Aussies off from options trading and trading in leveraged tokens, leaving margin trading the only form of leverage available to punters on its popular platform.

The company said in the announcement that it was cutting off the products because Binance  “constantly evaluates its product and service offerings to comply with local regulations”.

Our aim is to create a sustainable ecosystem around blockchain technology and digital assets.

“Binance welcomes developments to our industry’s regulatory framework as they pose opportunities for the market players to have greater collaboration with the regulators. We are committed to working constructively in policy-making that seeks to benefit every user.”

For those not familiar, Binance’s futures offering allows customers the ability to leverage their trades by up to 20x.

But users risk the loss of their capital if the trade moves in the opposite direction they were expecting.

While using excessive leverage recklessly can be a quick way to get “rekt”, experienced traders say it is a valid risk-management tool and an excellent way to magnify one’s gains.

Over US$114 billion in crypto futures had been traded on Binance in the 24 hours to Tuesday afternoon, according to Binance-owned Coinmarketcap — nearly four times the volume of its closest competitor, Huobi Global.

Platform under scrutiny

One of the largest – if not the largest – player in the crypto space, Binance Group has been in the regulatory crosshairs for months now despite having a loyal customer base and positive reputation in the industry.

Since June, Binance has been the target of investigations and warnings in Singapore, the UK, Malaysia, Thailand, Italy, Japan and the Cayman Islands.

In response, Binance has been beefing up know-your-customer requirements, reducing customers’ maximum leverage, and adding anti-money-laundering tools.

The company has even agreed to set up a physical headquarters in multiple jurisdictions, as its decentralised structure has apparently baffled regulators, despite the growing popularity of remote workforces.

Locally, Binance Australia has over 550,000 customers, a spokeswoman said, up from 480,000 in July.

Binance.com serves as a technology service provider to Brisbane-based Binance Australia, which handles the conversion of Australian dollars to crypto.

The Queensland-based crypto trading education platform The Crypto Den (whose founder Stockhead profiled in May) was yesterday telling its members that Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange had emerged as the leading alternative for Australian futures traders.