Binance Continues Compliance Efforts, Removes Banco de Venezuela as Payment Method
Summary:
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, removes Banco de Venezuela as a payment method on its P2P trading service, following similar actions with sanctioned Russian banks. The move aligns with international financial sanctions.
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, has eliminated Banco de Venezuela as a payment method on its peer-to-peer trading service. This action, which comes after a similar move targeting sanctioned Russian banks, is likely part of Binance's efforts to comply with international financial sanctions. Venezuelan users have reported the disappearance of Banco de Venezuela from the P2P payment options, following the removal of Russian banks by Binance. The decision is believed to be a response to the Wall Street Journal's report on August 24, which revealed the exchange's involvement in bypassing international financial sanctions. Banco de Venezuela is a major financial institution in the country, holding the third spot in terms of market share. It was sold to the state by Grupo Santander for approximately $1 billion in 2009. The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Venezuelan government officials and affiliated institutions in 2018 and 2019, in response to the repression of protests in 2014 and 2017. Although Banesco, Banplus, BBVA Provincial, and other private Venezuelan banks remain available on Binance's P2P platform, there has been a surge in awareness regarding the inclusion of sanctioned banks in crypto P2P payment options. This came to light when the Wall Street Journal revealed that Tinkoff Bank and Sberbank were listed as transfer methods on Binance. However, they were subsequently removed from the platform, despite their respective brand colors still being present. On August 25, journalists confirmed that the sanctioned banks had been completely removed from the list, according to a spokesperson from Binance. On August 28, two other major cryptocurrency exchanges, OKX and ByBit, also followed suit in excluding sanctioned Russian banks from their payment options. There is ongoing debate regarding the idea of banning ransomware payments, as it is an attractive option but poses significant risks.
Published At
8/29/2023 10:28:50 AM
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