Effective January 5, 2026, Binance transitioned to a fully regulated structure within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in the United Arab Emirates. This replaces the ambiguous “Binance Operators” with three ADGM-licensed entities known as the Nest regime, and shifts arbitration from Hong Kong to an ICC framework seated in ADGM. Under the 2017–2025 Terms of Use, users contracted with “Binance Operators,” defined as “all parties that run Binance,” an arrangement whose opacity has been judicially recognized as a defining feature of the platform’s operations. Lochan v. Binance Holdings Limited and related US court findings have described this model as obscuring the true ownership, control, and location of the platform.
Nest Exchange Limited operates the matching engine and generally does not hold client assets; claims regarding outages or matching errors should fall here. Nest Clearing and Custody Limited acts as the custodian of digital assets and the central counterparty for derivatives, with claims concerning frozen assets, withdrawals, or insolvency directed here. Nest Trading Limited is the broker-dealer for off-exchange services and should be against its proprietary inventory for pricing fairness in those products. Clause 37 of the 2026 Terms mandates ICC arbitration seated in ADGM with a three-member tribunal and excludes Expedited Procedure Rules.
An award issued under Clause 37 is an ADGM arbitral award, and the UAE’s New York Convention status allows recognition in over 170 countries. Enforcement requires ratification by the ADGM Court of First Instance to convert the award into a judgment for asset seizure. Assets held by Nest Clearing within the ADGM allow direct local enforcement, while foreign judgments obtained abroad in breach of the arbitration clause are unlikely to be recognized. Binance’s transition to the ADGM provides regulatory certainty for the Nest ecosystem but may entail higher dispute costs for investors.
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