China Becomes Binance’s Largest Market Amidst Crypto Ban

Despite stringent rules concerning cryptocurrencies in China, Binance has facilitated trades worth up to $90 billion in crypto within one month. 

Binance continued to operate in China even after the country placed a ban on crypto trading and mining almost six years ago. Interestingly, it turns out to be that China is the crypto exchange’s largest market followed by South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, and then the British Virgin Islands. According to a Wall Street report, the income from China accounts for 20% of Binance’s global volume.

Binance Circumvent Restrictions in China

Leading digital assets service provider Binance successfully carried out its operation in China by redirecting users through different websites with Chinese domain names. 

This strategy helped the exchange to circumvent the restrictions in China until it was discovered. While this unauthorized action has caught the attention of regulators, it is worth noting that it further accentuates Binance’s effort to maintain its footprint in the global market including China. 

Binance Accused of Listing Unregistered Securities While Bidding for Voyager Digital 

The crypto exchange is currently faced with multiple regulatory challenges and enforcement actions from watchdogs which threaten its future.  In March, a staff of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Binance of offering unregistered securities while the exchange was considering the acquisition of assets which belongs to beleaguered crypto brokerage company Voyager Digital.

William Uptegrove, the SEC attorney said “The staff believes – based solely on the facts and circumstances currently known to the staff – that the offering and sale of VGX tokens has the attributes of a securities transaction. The staff also believes that Binance.US is operating an unregistered securities exchange in the United States.”

Binance Help China Resident Evade Restrictions

Just around the same period, a leaked communication suggested that Binance allowed its Chinese clients to evade its Know-Your-Customer (KYC) system by the use of several techniques. 

Some of the techniques involve falsifying bank statements, addresses or even manipulating the exchange’s systems. Binance China users also employ the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to cut geographical restrictions.

Notably, an investigation shows that Binance has 900,000 active users in China. The turn of events has led to raised questions and concerns about the effectiveness of the leading exchange. The SEC is still on the rail of the exchange for several charges.