Binance Cuts Off Users from Restricted Jurisdictions

Binance Cuts Off Users from Restricted Jurisdictions

CRYPTO EXCHANGE BINANCE RESTRICTIONS

Binance, has now revoked access to users from countries targeted by the United States economic sanctions in accordance to its controversial revised terms of use. Contrary to the main target of the U.S government to only restrict access to financial services by target individuals and companies, Binance’s restriction has affected the entire population in these countries.

Restricted Jurisdictions

According to a recent report, users of Binance in Belarus, Serbia, Myanmar, Bosnia, Iran and other restricted jurisdictions are now cutoff after the global exchange released a notice of termination. The terms of use for Binance now prevents individuals and countries on the United Nations Security Council and the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (OFAC) sanction lists, from accessing its services. Russia was however not included.

Earlier this month, William Chui, a virtual currency broker in one of the affected countries cried out, saying that he had just gotten the dreaded message after he attempted to carry out a trade on the platform. He further explained that he had liquidated most of his tokens but he was at crossroads on where to keep them as not many wallets supports his coins.

Zimbabwe is Not Left Out

For almost two decades, Zimbabwe has been sanctioned under the reach of the Zimbabwe Democratic and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) and this has been a subject of controversy for a long time as the U.S. insists that the sanctions are aimed at institutions and individuals associated with bad governance. Users of Binance in Zimbabwe, a country not on the U.S. sanctions list has been removed from the platform using a blanket ban.

Other than to satisfy the interests of the United States, the reason for the ban still remains unclear both in Zidera or Finance’s new terms. It is not clear why a company which is based outside of the U.S. has gone out of its way to satisfy the requirements of the OFAC sanctions list.