Binance Froze A $1M Corporate Account – Request By Law Enforcement

Binance froze a $1 million corporate account as requested by law enforcement. The company revealed that it had limited account access to $1 million in cryptocurrency for a Tezos tool contributor after being called out on social media.

Binance announced in a Thursday Twitter thread that Binance froze a $1 million corporate account as requested by law enforcement. It banned the account of Tezos staking rewards auditor Baking Bad “because to a law enforcement request.” The Tezos contributor claimed that Binance had stopped access to its business account, which contained Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), Tether (USDT), and other tokens, on July 1 “without any reasons,” an allegation Binance disputed.

“BakingBad is well aware of [Binance’s actions], as he was already advised of this multiple times and provided the LE contact form through our support chat system on 7/6, 7/12, and 7/22,” said Binance. “Attempting to mislead the community in regards to your case will not change anything, unfortunately.”

Binance also added:

“Binance is required to cooperate with such requests, the same as any other exchange. There is a process to contest the seizure with the agency should you wish to pursue that path. But that is done through the agency, Binance has zero control over that process.”

The account in question was restricted as the result of a law enforcement request, which @TezosBakingBad is well aware of, as he was already advised of this multiple times and provided the LE contact form through our support chat system on 7/6, 7/12, and 7/22.

— Binance (@binance) August 25, 2022

Given that the exchange and its subsidiaries operate in several nations throughout the world, it’s unclear exactly to which law enforcement body Binance was referring. According to Baking Bad’s LinkedIn page, the site is situated in Estonia, where many firms providing crypto-related services were subject to new anti-money laundering regulations beginning in February.

Binance has already deferred to several law enforcement and regulatory organizations that placed restrictions on Russia-based businesses and persons following the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict. Binance will not “unilaterally freeze millions of innocent consumers’ accounts,” a spokeswoman said in February, with CEO Changpeng Zhao claiming the exchange must comply with penalties in the same manner that traditional financial institutions do. In April, the exchange limited Russian nationals and residents’ accounts, preventing them from depositing or trading using Binance’s spot, futures, and custody wallets, as well as staked and earned deposits.

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Binance’s CEO said in April of this year, that the company and all crypto exchanges must comply with sanctions in a similar way to traditional financial institutions.

The company imposed caps on trading for Russian nationals and/or residents of Russia. They also gave those with open futures or derivatives positions to close their positions within 90 days of the announcement.

With actions like these, Binance showed its position as an industry leader.

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