Binance Under Fire in France

Investigations by the French public prosecutor's office due to lack of licenses

In France, the public prosecutor's office is now apparently investigating Binance's offshoot in the country. The focus of the investigations is the suspicion of serious money laundering. In addition, the Paris prosecutor's office, supported by the French tax and customs authority SEJF, accuses Binance of "illegal operation of a cryptocurrency trading platform." The exact grounds for this accusation are somewhat unclear at the moment. After all, the company only received an official license as a virtual asset service provider in France in May 2022. This usually means that the exchange meets the strict requirements of the French financial regulator. At the time, Binance and the authorities stressed that a trading platform with this status would have to meet KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) requirements, in particular, to be allowed to offer its services in the country. This makes it all the more surprising that there are now accusations of not having met these requirements. According to reports, Binance has already been inspected by the authorities and the company claimed to have been cooperative on this occasion.

Immediate withdrawal from the Netherlands

At the same time, Binance has completely ceased its operations in the Netherlands. The company announced this decision last Friday, saying, "We regret to inform you that Binance is leaving the Dutch market. Effective immediately, no new users residing in the Netherlands will be accepted." Existing registered users can still withdraw their assets, but all other features will no longer be available. The reason for withdrawing from the Netherlands is the lack of a Virtual Asset Service Provider license. Back in April 2022, the crypto exchange was fined around €3.3 million due to this missing license. Although Binance applied for the license immediately after, it was not granted despite an extensive application process.

Binance is currently under pressure from regulators in several countries. These recent developments in France and the Netherlands have further negative implications for the exchange's reputation. It remains to be seen how the investigations and the withdrawal from the Netherlands will affect Binance's future. The cryptocurrency industry is facing a period of increased regulation, and it is becoming clear that Binance is struggling to cope with the current challenges.

Binance under investigation in France

The French prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into Binance. There are suspicions of money laundering and illegal operation of a cryptocurrency trading platform.

Withdrawal from the Netherlands due to lack of license

Binance has suspended its operations in the Netherlands because the company does not have a license as a virtual asset service provider. Already registered users can withdraw their assets, but no new users will be accepted anymore.