Key highlights:
- Binance is asking U.S. customers to withdraw their crypto from the exchange
- Binance says it can’t offer services to U.S. customers because of regulations
- The exchange says users from the United States have 90 days to withdraw their funds
Binance notifies U.S. users that they should withdraw their crypto
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume. The platform earned its popularity by listing a wide variety of altcoins, and providing in-demand products such as Binance Coin, futures contracts and lending.
According to Binance’s terms and conditions, users from the United States are not allowed to use the platform. This policy was first announced by Binance in July of 2019. However, this did not stop some U.S. users from using the exchange anyway. Now, Binance seems to be getting more serious about enforcing its rules.
According to a report from The Block, Binance is now contacting customers who used the exchange from an United States I.P. address.
Binance is taking practical steps regarding this issue, and it is sending emails to U.S users and notifies them that the exchange can’t provide services for U.S users. Binance explains that it can’t offer services to U.S. customers due to regulations.
The emails warn U.S users that they have 90 days to move their funds, and Binance suggests U.S users in these emails migrate over to Binance US or other cryptocurrency exchanges. When the Binance system detects an American account, these emails will be automatically sent to him/her.
Recent regulatory developments
This decision of Binance followed the prosecution of BitMEX by the U.S government. There are different allegations against BitMEX, and the most important ones are breaking regulations regarding money laundering and know your customer requirements. Now, all customers of BitMEX have to pass an identity verification process.
Binance itself has also attracted the attention of regulators. In September, the FATF released a report regarding Binance’s strategy of moving between different jurisdictions, and the report interpreted these measures as evading regulations.
Recently, Forbes released a report saying that Binance is following a strategy designed to minimize the impact of U.S. regulations on the company. The report argues about Binance corporate plan for deceiving U.S regulators and making a profit from cryptocurrency traders in the U.S. In response, Binance’s chief executive Changpeng Zhao stated that the Forbes report is incorrect.
