Mixed signals: Binance denies reports of $90B in crypto trades in China

Binance has refuted claims published in The Wall Street Journal that the exchange has conducted billions of dollars in crypto-related business in China, despite the country’s crypto ban.

Binance has reportedly continued operations in China, despite the country’s ban on cryptocurrencies, with billions of dollars worth of transactions monthly, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ says its reporters, along with current and former employees of Binance, viewed “internal figures” that revealed users traded $90 billion in cryptocurrency-related assets in China during a one-month period.

However, as these claims surfaced, the exchange has denied conducting any business in China. In a statement given to Cointelegraph via email, a Binance representative said:

“The Binance.com website is blocked in China and is not accessible to China-based users.“

Cointelegraph has requested additional comments from Binance on whether it is looking into the claims made in the WSJ report and what steps it plans to take, if any.

This is not the first time Binance has been accused of maintaining ties with Chinese customers after the country imposed its nationwide ban on cryptocurrencies. In March, Binance employees allegedly helped customers in mainland China bypass its Know Your Customer controls.

In this incident, the exchange did not refute the claims. Instead, it said it had “taken action” against the employees who “may have violated” its internal policies, which it said included “wrongly soliciting or making recommendations that are not allowed or in line with our standards.”

At the time, when speaking to Cointelegraph, a Binance employee said the company would be doing an “internal investigation, into the accused employees.

In the weeks following, another report was released claiming that Binance continued to keep staff and operations in China, despite announcing its departure in 2017 after China’s initial ban on crypto.

Binance’s remaining presence was reported to include an office that was still in use at the end of 2019, along with a Chinese bank account used to pay employees.

In recent months, Binance has been facing operational turmoil from regulators worldwide. Belgian authorities asked Binance to cease all digital currency services in the country in June.

On July 26, the cryptocurrency exchange withdrew its crypto license application in Germany after reports of rejections from the German financial regulatory authority.

Most recently, on Aug. 2, Binance came forward with “no comment” regarding reports alleging it mulled closing its United States arm to protect its global operations.

Despite rough waters for the exchange, on Aug. 1 it launched trading operations in Japan with a warm welcome from local financial authorities.

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