REPORT: Binance Reportedly Continued to Serve Iranian Customers, Despite Ban and Sanctions

Iranian Cryptocurrency Users Say They Used Global Exchange Binance Months After Company Ban and Renewal economic sanctions against the country.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance is under the spotlight as a report claims it has continued to serve Iranian customers despite the company's ban and economic sanctions against the country.

According to a Reuters investigative report, individuals inside the country continued to trade on Binance after the company itself placed Iran on a blacklist of jurisdictions in which it would not operate not.

Iranian use of the exchange also challenges capital controls instituted against the country after US economic sanctions intensified in 2018. Binance, itself, operates out of the Cayman Islands and does not is not subject to the sanctions prohibiting US entities. to do business in Iran.

However, Binance's US company, Binance.US, is putting the brakes on the action, possibly facing secondary sanctions for doing business in a sanctioned state and providing Iranians with a way to circumvent trade embargoes.

Related: Binance blocks crypto accounts of relatives linked to the Russian government

Anecdotes from Binance users in the country claim that lax registration requirements made it easy to create an account and start trading, with only an email needed to sign up. Other former traders continued to use Binance in the country through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and IP address blockers.

The exchange tightened its anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements in Iran late last year. Cointelegraph has reached out to Binance to comment on...