Breaking: ASIC Raids Binance Australia Offices

Key Insights

• Binance Australia Offices raided by ASIC
• The exchange has launched an investigation
• Proceeding details not disclosed

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is facing a raid on its Australian office by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Bloomberg writes about this, citing sources close to the verification.

Why did ASIC raid Binance Australia’s office?

Markets Xplora has learned that the raid is reportedly related to the ASIC investigation into the crypto exchange. The regulator wants to know what derivatives services Binance Australia offered to retail and institutional clients.

The ASIC representative did not publicly deny or confirm the searches at the Binance Australia office. However, he admitted in a media comment that the regulator is investigating the exchange. The trading platform itself said that they were cooperating with local regulators, but did not specify the essence of ASIC’s claims.

In April, ASIC canceled Binance Australia’s derivatives license. Then the Australian regulator said that cryptocurrency derivatives pose “additional risks for consumers due to the use of leverage.” Despite the searches, Binance continues to provide spot trading services on Binance Australia.

In May, the Australian banking sector began to restrict money transfers to Binance details. One of the largest Australian banks Westpac introduced a ban on transactions against the exchange. The bank said the decision was made to protect customers from fraud.

Soon, Binance announced that Australian customers can no longer deposit money to the site through the PayID payment system. The withdrawal of Australian dollars to bank accounts has also been stopped.

Despite the restrictions, Australian users will still be able to buy crypto on Binance with a credit or debit card, and trade on the peer-to-peer (p2p) platform as normal.

Binance regulatory woes continue

Binance has faced challenges in Europe, including a raid by the French prosecutor’s office on its Paris office and demands from the Belgian regulator to leave the local market. Binance has also announced its withdrawal from the Dutch market.

Binance’s struggles in the European market are attributed to the tightening of requirements by local regulators and the collapse of the FTX exchange.

In the United States, Binance is facing a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging non-compliance with US securities laws. Binance’s share of the global spot trading market has declined from 57% to 42% between February and June.

At the time of writing, the price of BNB has experienced a significant decline while trading at $241. In the last 24 hours alone, the price has fallen by 1.53%.

What do you think are the implications of the raid on Binance Australia’s offices by the Australian regulator? Let us know in the comments.