Share this article
Binance Asks Prime Brokers to Enhance KYC to Block U.S. Nationals: Bloomberg
The presence of U.S. nationals on the platform has been a contentious issue for authorities as, officially, they are banned but continue to pop up.
Updated Mar 19, 2024, 8:09 a.m. Published Mar 19, 2024, 8:08 a.m.
- Binance is now requiring prime brokers to enhance their KYC to block U.S. nationals, according to a Bloomberg report.
- In court documents unsealed in November, it was revealed that U.S. customers significantly fueled Binance’s rapid growth.
Binance is asking its prime brokers to do enhanced Know Your Customer (KYC) work on clients to ensure that they aren’t serving U.S. nationals, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Prime Brokers act as intermediaries between institutional investors and the market, offering services such as custody, trade execution, risk management, and lending with the aim of attracting institutional investors by providing a comprehensive end-to-end service model similar to their counterparts in traditional finance.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
After Binance pleaded guilty to breaking sanctions and money-transmitting laws, settling the case for $4.3 billion, it has required prime brokers like FalconX and Hidden Road to collect additional client information, including office addresses and the locations of employees and founders, along with signed attestations verifying the accuracy of the information, Bloomberg reported.
“Binance is fully committed to compliance and has made public how it assesses end users who can access the Binance platform," the exchange said in a statement published on Bloomberg. “By making its standard transparent, Binance gives clarity to enterprises who want to access its market-leading liquidity.”
In court documents unsealed in November, it was revealed that Binance’s rapid growth was significantly fueled by U.S. customers, a practice deemed illegal by U.S. authorities due to the exchange’s lack of registration as a U.S. business, CoinDesk previously reported.
Despite knowing the risks, Binance’s ex-CEO Changpeng "CZ” Zhao and other officials encouraged high-value U.S. clients to conceal their connections to the U.S. through methods such as using VPNs to hide their IP addresses and an API to access the main exchange, court documents revealed at the time.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
SEC Approves U.S.’ Second Crypto Index ETP with Bitwise’s BITW
The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund now trades on NYSE Arca, joining the ranks of gold and oil funds in regulated exchange products.
What to know:
- The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW) has received SEC approval to trade as an exchange-traded product on NYSE Arca.
- BITW offers diversified exposure to the 10 largest cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether, and is rebalanced monthly.
- This approval marks a significant milestone for crypto indices, potentially attracting more institutional investment.
Top Stories
