Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
March 27, 2019 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- What if I told you
that most of the cryptocurrency exchanges that currently exist, do
not have adequate know-your-customer procedures? You might ask how
that is relevant, since crypto exchanges were always supposed to be
places that give people the freedom of the stock market, without
the hassle of being approved for it.
The fact is, even though that might
equate to Satoshi and the cypherpunks’ vision for such entities, it
is not our reality, at least not yet. Laws exist and governments
still rule our behavior related to money. Even Satoshi would agree
that crypto is money, though he likely would not agree that it
should be regulated.
What emerges as paramount in this
discussion is that for now, when crypto exchanges follow certain
KYC and AML procedures, governments are more likely to welcome them
with open arms. Reportedly, however, a survey has just been
published that indicates that 69% of 216 cryptocurrrency exchanges
are not adequately using know-your-customer procedures.
Even worse, only 26% of all
exchanges surveyed were practicing any sort of realistic anti-money
laundering procedures like full-time staff with true knowledge of
how to deal with money laundering.
Since all of this was revealed only
to CoinDesk, it is difficult to speculate on further details on
this subject, beyond what they have provided. Still, what may be
most interesting to the average crypto investor is that the same
report apparently clearly stated that Binance poses a “high
regulatory risk.”
The specific reason for this was
that at the time of publishing the report, Binance was allowing
customers to withdraw the equivalent of 2 Bitcoins or less, without
really identifying themselves. While this does pose a risk,
especially in the cases where nefarious groups might spread
ill-gotten funds around many different accounts, Binance has just
partnered with a firm to improve its’ overall
compliance.
Only time will tell whether this
firm advises them to change their no KYC policy on small deposits
and withdrawals.
By: BGN Editorial Staff