Australia forces Binance to pay users after law-breaking

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued a press release detailing $13.1 million in payments to users of Binance Australia Derivatives (also known as Oztures Trading Pty Ltd) for rule-breaking related to the misclassification of users as wholesale instead of retail.

Binance Australia Derivatives failed to provide retail clients with legally required protections and, as such, has had to compensate users for ‘net trading losses and fees.’

Binance Australia Derivatives canceled its Australian Financial Services License in April of this year. This cancellation came after ASIC started a “targeted review of Binance’s financial services business in Australia” and after “ASIC issued a notice of hearing.”

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After it chose to cancel this license, there were subsequent raids on the company’s offices in Australia.

Binance has also been cut off from many of its previous banking partners in Australia with the likes of Cuscal and large Australian banks like Westpac shutting off transfers to Binance entities.

ASIC’s press release also made sure to detail how regulatory agencies around the world have issued warnings and suits against Binance and specifically draws attention to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission lawsuit. It also includes warnings from the UK, Japan, Italy, Singapore, the Netherlands, Canada, and Thailand.

ASIC has pursued other cryptocurrency companies, including Finder for its Finder Earn crypto lending product, and it was investigating FTX at the time of its collapse.

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