- The legal woes for Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, continue to mount as it has been revealed that French authorities have been investigating the exchange for money laundering since February 2022.
As a requirement to operate in the region, Binance is mandated to obtain an operating license, which it failed to do, leading regulators to charge the platform with illegally offering its services to French customers. All cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country have been required to obtain approval from the Financial Markets Authority since 2019.
On June 5, the SEC filed 13 charges against Binance for a variety of violations, including operating an illegal platform in the U.S. and for the misuse of customer funds. “In France, surprise on-site inspections of regulated businesses are the norm, for banks, and now for crypto too,” CZ said. “The surprise visit for Binance France happened a couple of weeks ago. It's not ‘news.’ Binance France cooperated fully. Binance also isn't the only crypto business inspected. This happened to other well-known crypto businesses in Paris too.”