US Escalates Pressure on Binance: Demanding More Customer Information and Enhancing Listing Transparency

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly requesting major brokers such as FalconX and Hidden Road to implement more stringent reviews to exclude US investors from trading on its platform. This comes after Binance reached a settlement agreement with US authorities last year, in which they admitted to violating US anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations and agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine. According to Bloomberg, Binance has been asking these brokers to gather more information from their clients, including office addresses and the locations of employees and founders. The interviewees are also required to sign a certificate to confirm the accuracy of their responses. In response to regulatory pressures, Binance must provide greater transparency and tighten requirements for listing new tokens. Despite the hefty fine imposed by the US, Binance’s market share in global spot cryptocurrency trading volume has rebounded from around 30% to approximately 40% after a decline from nearly 60% last year, according to CCData. The price of BNB has also risen by about 80% this year, surpassing the increase in Bitcoin’s value. Justin d’Anethan, Head of Asia Business Development at market maker Keyrock, described Binance as a large global bank that may face similar fines for making mistakes but will “tighten its business and move forward.”