Binance expects its users to transfer their holdings to its US subsidiary which, though regulated, is not yet available in all the 50 states of America.
Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has issued a very stern quit notice to its platform users resident in the United States of America following regulatory concerns. According to the notice contained in a letter sent to the Binance US users fished out through their IP addresses, Binance is giving them a 14-day ultimatum to transfer their current holdings out of the exchange, failure of which can cause the accounts to get locked.
“Dear user, as we constantly perform periodic sweeps of our existing controls, we noted that you are trying to access Binance while having identified yourself as a US person,” the email, a copy of which Decrypt has obtained, reads. “Please note that as per our terms of use, we are unable to service US persons. You have 14 days to close all active positions on your account and withdraw all your funds, failing which your account will be locked.”
Binance exchange has been trying hard to get its US-based customers out of the exchange as the main exchange has no regulatory backing from United States authorities. All efforts to push out this class of users have proven abortive since it started trying as far back as 2019. Many Binance US users have found ways to continue to bypass preliminary geographical checks through the use of virtual private networks to continue to use the main Binance exchange platform.
Binance Provisions for US Users
Binance is not hoping to expel its US users from its main platform and leave them to hang dry as it launched its Binance US arm as reported by Coinspeaker back in 2019. Binance expects its users to transfer their holdings to its US subsidiary which though regulated, is not yet available in all the 50 states of America.
The Binance US arm is obviously not as robust as the main Binance platform in terms of the number of its trading pair listings but it is constantly expanding its offerings with the joining of Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) one of the US arm’s strategies of bringing more value to its users.
The regulatory backlash on Binance got compounded with a Forbes publication alleging that Binance established its US arm alongside BAM Trading exchange service in a bid to distract regulators from focusing on its activities. The publication which Binance saw as provocative and damning has stirred a lawsuit in which Binance is demanding millions of dollars in damages.
While Binance appears ready to finally enforce its ban on US users, affected users are prompted to oblige to avoid account restrictions.