Beset by legal and regulatory woes around the world, Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume — today announced that it is implementing mandatory know-your-customer (KYC) with immediate effect as it steps up its anti-money laundering (AML) compliance.
Fast facts
- All new Binance users are now required to complete “intermediate verification” — which involves customers providing their name, nationality, date of birth, address details, government ID, and facial verification — to access Binance products and services including cryptocurrency deposits, trades and withdrawals.
- Existing users who have yet to complete intermediate verification will have their account access temporarily changed “withdraw only,” with services limited to withdrawal, order cancellation, position close and redemption, Binance said. Users regain full access after completing the verification.
- Faced with increasing regulatory scrutiny around the world over its lax practices, Binance has been beefing its KYC and AML efforts as well as reining in its product offerings. Binance’s latest move to impose mandatory KYC further tightens its policy from last month when it adjusted the daily withdrawal limits on its platform from 2 Bitcoin to 0.06 Bitcoin — approximately US$2,000 — for accounts that have completed only basic account verification. The platform has also introduced a tax reporting tool and slashed leverage from 125x to 2ox.
- “Mandatory KYC for ALL services @Binance,” said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) in a tweet. “Action speaks louder than words.”
- Binance has been rapidly expanding its compliance headcount, which has grown by 500% since last year. Earlier this week, Binance announced that it had appointed Greg Monahan, a former U.S. Treasury criminal investigator, as its global money laundering reporting officer.
See related article: Binance CEO reiterates willingness to replace self, beefs up KYC