The largest crypto exchange accordind trading volume, Binance, has recently increased its customer verification requirements amid growing pressure from financial regulators around the world.
All Binance users must verify their accounts
In an official announcement on Friday, Binance said that all new users must complete customer verification procedures with immediate effect in order to gain access to services such as cryptocurrency deposits, trades and withdrawals. According to the Exchange’s procedures, this verification involves users submitting their government-issued ID cards and undergoing face verification.
The Exchange stated that these changes are the result of ongoing reviews of its products and services in order to identify the necessary changes and improvements that are necessary as the regulatory environment continues to evolve rapidly.
Existing Binance users have not been left out of the latest changes. The Exchange noted that all existing customers whose accounts are still under “basic” verification will have their accounts limited to withdrawal, order cancellation, position closing and redemption.
“Everything will take place in stages to minimize disruption to the user experience, from now until 2021-10-19 00:00 UTC. Existing users can only restore full access to Binance’s products and services, such as deposits and trading, after completing at least a temporary verification,” the exchange added.
Binance also noted that this new mandatory verification aims to strengthen compliance with the “know your customer” (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations to ensure the security of its users’ funds and personal data.
Binance under the pressure of regulators
The cryptocurrency sector has always been under the intensive control of financial regulators. But in recent months, the largest exchange seems to be receiving the most attention.
Regulators from various jurisdictions around the world, including Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and several other countries, have accused the exchange of offering unlicensed services, among others. Yesterday, the Netherlands Central Bank also joined the growing list of countries.
Ongoing interventions against Binance have forced the company to appoint several executives with strong regulatory backgrounds to help it navigate the strict legislative environment. Just a few days ago, Binance hired a former US Department of the Treasury economic crime investigator to help it comply with global regulators.
At the time of writing, Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the industry and boasts a 24-hour volume of more than $ 26 billion.
