Binance Partners With CipherTrace in Latest Compliance Push

Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange Binance is embarking on a multi-pronged push to boost compliance procedures across its platform.

"We are very serious about improving our compliance standards," Samuel Lim, head of compliance at Binance, told CoinDesk.

"We will continue to build our [compliance] team, continue to re-invest in the compliance space."

The addition of CipherTrace, which is backed by venture firms such as Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital, comes on the heels of a new partnership with IdentityMind on know-your-customer compliance.

The analytics firm Whitestream identified a Binance account that allegedly received bitcoin from supporters of the military-political group Hamas, which the U.S. deems to be a terrorist organization.

Financial crimes present a more common reputational risk, especially considering the regtech startup Coinfirm identified Binance as an exchange that may not always enforce restrictions based on KYC requirements.

So BTI development director Marco Paez told CoinDesk his research firm is working with Binance to crack down on wash trading.

Coupling those BTI insights with CiperTrace's services could complement the broader compliance push across the Binance ecosystem.

Lim said these partnerships are merely enhancing Binance's existing capabilities, adding the exchange already has an in-house team with "Dozens" of legal and blockchain analytics experts devoted to tasks like platform moderation, AML and KYC compliance.

Lim said Binance's compliance team is committed to continually raising the bar as the regulatory landscape and user behaviors also evolve.