Netherlands warns Binance is illegally offering crypto services

The central bank of the Netherlands has issued a warning that Binance — the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume — is illegally operating in the country.

Fast facts

• Binance is providing crypto services in the Netherlands without the required legal registration with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), according to the regulator. “This means Binance is not in compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme – Wwft) and is illegally offering services for the exchange between virtual and fiduciary currencies and it is illegally offering custodian wallets.” This could increase the risk of customers becoming involved in money laundering or terrorist financing, DNB said.

• A Binance spokesperson told Forkast.News that the company was aware of a notice by DNB. “As part of our commitment to redoubling our efforts in compliance, Binance is in the process of submitting an application for the required registration,” the spokesperson said. “We will be working constructively with DNB and hope to give a positive update in the near future.”

• “Binance takes compliance very seriously and although we are not formally registered with DNB yet, we have a robust compliance program that incorporates tools and procedures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing,” the spokesperson added.

• The Netherlands joins a growing list of countries and territories, such as the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Germany, Malaysia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States, that have issued warnings or launched investigations into Binance over its derivatives trading services, stock tokens and know-your-customer (KYC) practices.

• Amid the intensifying regulatory pressure, Binance has beefed up its compliance headcount, stepped up its compliance measures and limited its product offerings including winding down support for stock tokens, cutting high leverage and tightening its daily withdrawal limits for accounts that had completed only basic know-your-customer account verification. Earlier this week, Binance announced the appointment of Greg Monahan, a former U.S. Treasury criminal investigator, as its global anti-money laundering officer.

See related article: Binance CEO reiterates willingness to replace self, beefs up KYC