Apple and Google to boot Binance apps in the Philippines for ‘posing a threat’ to investors

In a mounting crisis for Binance CEO Richard Teng, regulators in the Philippines are working with tech giants Google and Apple to remove the crypto exchange’s applications from their local app stores, the agency confirmed in a statement on April 23.

The move marks an escalation after the Securities and Exchange Commission blocked the website of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange at the end of March.

“The SEC has identified [Binance] and concluded that the public’s continued access to these websites/apps poses a threat to the security of the funds of investing Filipinos,” SEC Chair Emilio B. Aquino said in the letters sent on April 19.

Illegal activities

Aquino said the removal and blockade of Binance apps are essential steps to “prevent the proliferation of illegal activities by the platform in the Philippines and to shield the investing public from its adverse effects on our economy.”

Binance media representatives did not respond to a request for comment by DL News.

The action comes as Teng struggles to revamp the freewheeling business model left by his predecessor, Changpeng Zhao, or CZ.

Zhao eschewed obtaining licences or registering with the regulators in markets where Binance operated.

Now that lack of compliance is backfiring in not only the Philippines but also in Nigeria, where the company has been charged with money laundering and tax evasion.

Two Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, have also been charged in Nigeria, and the former, who pleaded not guilty, is incarcerated in a prison pending trial.

The crackdown in Manila follows a November warning, when the SEC announced plans to block access to Binance due to it operating without a licence in the country.

The agency said that salesmen, brokers, and influencers promoting its services could face up to 21 years in prison and fines of $90,000.

Ample warning

The SEC also said it provided ample warning and opportunity for investors to withdraw from Binance and reallocate their funds to authorised investment platforms.

But a lack of clarity as to exactly when it would happen led to a rush of users trying to withdraw funds from the platform when the website block was implemented.

As a result, vendors on the Binance peer-to-peer marketplace offered Tether’s USDT at a discount of 5 to 7% as they attempted to liquidate their holdings.

The SEC has not yet announced any actions against other international exchanges which continue to operate in the Philippines without the correct licences.

Got a story about crypto in Asia? Contact Callan Quinn at callan@dlnews.com.