Multiple States Revoke Binance.US Licenses Due to Legal Issues

A major regulatory setback has been dealt to Binance by several US jurisdictions that have either withdrawn or denied renewing its money transmitter license. The division of the worldwide bitcoin exchange for the United States. The reason for this action is continuing legal problems and compliance concerns with Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the company's former CEO.

The Department of Financial Institutions in North Dakota is the most recent to move against Binance.US. The regulator said on Monday that Zhao's recent legal issues and non-compliance with state legislation had resulted in the termination of the exchange's money transmitter license. Zhao is now serving a four-month jail term after recently entering a guilty plea to breaking US anti-money laundering legislation. Along with the U.S. Department of Justice litigation settlement, Binance was also hit with a stiff $4.3 billion fine.

“Money transmission activity includes receiving money or cryptocurrency to send to a location within or outside of the United States on behalf of another person,” the banking regulator of North Dakota said. The legitimate operation of this company requires a license, according to North Dakota Century Code Chapter 13-09.1.

North Dakota is hardly the only state seeing the regulatory crackdown. November of last year, shortly after Zhao's guilty plea, Florida had already suspended Binance.US's license. Alaska came next, refusing to extend the exchange's license in January. Later that month, North Carolina and Maine did the same; Connecticut suspended the license on April 24 and Oregon revoked it on April 30.

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North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions said, “North Dakota joins Alaska, Florida, Maine, North Carolina, and Oregon who have taken similar actions to revoke or deny the renewal of BAM Trading Services' Money Transmission License.”

To overcome these obstacles, Binance.US has changed its leadership to better negotiate the choppy regulatory environment. When creator Changpeng Zhao resigned as chair, the exchange named Martin Grant, a former top compliance and ethics officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Additionally involved in a legal dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is Binance.US. Allegations that were made by other Bitcoin services like Coinbase and Kraken sparked the dispute last year. Even with these challenges, Binance.US CEO Norman Reed-who was formerly the exchange's chief counsel-is upbeat. Reed has faulted the SEC for making compliance efforts more difficult by not offering precise guidelines on whether digital assets qualify as securities.

The continuous regulatory examination highlights the increasing suffering of the US cryptocurrency market as it struggles with changing legal requirements and intensified enforcement measures.

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