Binance is in hot waters over allegations of its employees helping Chinese users to bypass KYC controls.
A news portal CNBC report released on March 23rd claims that certain Binance employees and specialized “volunteers” are allegedly helping users in China and other countries to circumvent Binance’s Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols.
The report refers to Chinese-language messages from a Binance-operated Discord server and a Telegram group.
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The individuals, known as “Angels,” are allegedly sharing tactics such as creating fake bank documents, hiding the user’s country, and falsifying addresses. On top of that, Binance “Angels” reportedly shared video tutorials and other documents showing in detail how to avoid KYC requirements.
These methods enable users to sidestep various controls and receive Binance debit card.
It is worth noting that in 2017, China imposed a ban on cryptocurrency exchanges. Four years later, in 2021, the country prohibited cryptocurrencies altogether.
When asked about the allegations, Binance’s spokesperson noted:
Binance employees are explicitly forbidden from suggesting or supporting users in circumventing their local laws and regulatory policies, and would be immediately dismissed or audited if found to have violated those policies.
On top of that, the company’s representative has stated that Binance has “taken action” against staff members “who may have violated <their> internal policies, including wrongly soliciting or making recommendations that are not allowed or in line with <their> standards.”
Binance’s co-founder and CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, is known for sharing his opinions on various issues on Twitter. On March 23rd, after the CNBC article started surfacing, CZ tweeted:
Many things happening. I don’t have a smart-ass tweet. So, let’s keep building.
On top of that, Binance CEO tweeted “4” as a reference to his January tweet about “ignoring FUD, fake news, attacks, etc.” It can be assumed that it is CZ’s response to CNBC’s article.
