Important takeaways
ASIC searched Binance Australia’s offices
The offices of Binance Australia, the Australian arm of Binance, were raided on Tuesday by the country’s financial markets regulator.
This latest cryptocurrency news comes as governments around the world scrutinize the activities of cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to a Bloomberg reports, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission raided several Binance Australia locations on Tuesday. The search was part of an ongoing investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange’s now-defunct derivatives business, sources close to the matter told Bloomberg.
Binance has experienced crackdowns from governments in Europe and the United States. Last month, the US SEC sued Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for violating securities laws.
On June 22, Brazilian authorities revealed that they were investigating Binance for suspected pyramid schemes. Binance is also under investigation for helping clients get around a restriction on crypto derivatives investments in Brazil.
A few days later, Binance dropped its license application in Austria after German regulators denied its application to operate in the country.
Outside pressure hurts Binance, says CZ
In a Twitter Space on Wednesday, Binance CEO CZ admitted that the external pressure is hurting the company. He stated that;
“Many of these things are beyond our control, but in the short term they have negative effects on our business.”
Despite the pressure, Binance is still the world’s number one cryptocurrency exchange. However, its global share of crypto spot trading fell for the fourth consecutive month in June. Data obtained from CCData showed that Binance now controls 42% of global crypto spot trading volume, a 10-month low for the company.
The ASIC investigation comes after Binance Australia announced in April that it would wind down the local derivatives exchange while keeping its spot platform open.
At the time, Binance said it closed the derivatives positions of many Australian users because they were wrongly classified as wholesale investors.
This was stated by a spokesperson for ASIC
“We cannot confirm or deny any operational details such as possible searches. ASIC’s review of the company is ongoing.”
The cryptocurrency exchange said it is working with local authorities, and its sole focus is to meet local regulatory standards to serve its Australian users in a fully compliant manner.
