Binance is tightening the KYC processes. From now on you have to verify yourself to be able to trade on the crypto exchanges.
When the crypto exchange was founded in 2017, everything was a little like in the Wild West. It was a long time Binance possible to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoins anonymously. With an email address and a password, you could enter the crypto world and start trading. But meanwhile more and more governments and authorities are humming stricter requirements on the “wild crypto west”. The crypto exchange is currently struggling with fierce headwinds, for example in Japan or the United Kingdom, and accordingly has to be conciliatory with the legal guardians. With this in mind, it is hardly surprising that Binance introduced a general identification requirement on August 20. If you want to trade on Binance from now on, you have to go through a “KYC” (Know Your Customer) process.
Binance writes on August 20, 2021 on the Blog:
Investor protection is an integral part of our DNA and our core values. Our vision is to create a sustainable ecosystem that is safe for everyone involved. Over the past four years we’ve laid the foundation by being strong in Security and protection of our customers invested, assisted law enforcement agencies around the world with high-profile investigations, and helped cybercrime victims recover millions of dollars’ worth of stolen funds.
The announcement of Binance’s KYC obligation is part of a series of other messages that show that the crypto exchange is more and more bowing to, or has to bow to, global regulatory pressure. It was not until July 27 that Binance announced on Twitter that users who have not been verified can only withdraw a maximum of 0.06 Bitcoin – compared to an earlier limit of two Bitcoin.
An industry in transition – Binance also has to adapt
It almost seems as if crypto exchanges like Binance are somehow “growing up”. While they were largely unregulated when they were founded and governments around the world have taken on the role of observer, authorities are regulating the crypto exchanges more and more today. And they have to adapt to this pressure – whether they want to or not. Binance itself sees that too; In the blog post on the new KYC obligation, it says: “Our goal is to work more closely with political decision-makers in order to improve global standards and discourage criminals”. A few days earlier, the company announced that it had named Greg Monahan, a former US finance detective, as Global Money Laundering Reporting Officer.