Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange Binance will be launching its Binance.US, a cryptocurrency exchange that will be accessible by US-based users, in “the coming weeks.” The announcement came in a Medium post by Binance on Friday, September 6. At first, the platform will be only accessible via mobile or desktop browser; eventually, an app version of the exchange will be released.
The post was signed by Binance.US CEO Catherine Coley, who held an executive-level position at Ripple before being joining the new branch of the exchange.
1/ Excited to serve as the CEO of BAM Trading Services, the operator of https://t.co/NDRVQIXfNf @BinanceAmerica 🇺🇸 https://t.co/sJeuEpCBlh
— Catherine Coley (@cryptocoley) July 2, 2019
The post also said that KYC checks for Binance.US would begin several days before the platform is fully operational. In order to trade on the platform, US-based users will be required to provide a valid piece of government-issued identification, along with their social security numbers.
The list of states where the exchange will be allowed has not yet been released: “We are finalizing the list of states where we will start to roll out service to users and will release this list before we begin onboarding customers,” the post said.
However, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a June interview with Cheddar that Binance.US will not be initially operational in New York state due to the expensive and complicated process associated with applying for a BitLicense, which is required to run digital assets-based businesses in the state.
Binance will launch in partnership with BAM Trading Services, a little-known company based in San Francisco
Binance originally closed its doors to US-based users in June due to an uncertain regulatory situation in the United States. The announcement that Binance.US would be launched came after FinCEN approved its registration documents, just one day before Binance’ original trading platform barred US-based users.
Binance.US will be launched through a partnership with BAM Trading Services, a rather mysterious company that appears to be based in San Francisco, California.
#BAM Partners with @Binance to Launch https://t.co/QdEjB4Itoq (@BinanceAmerica)
BAM Trading Services is thrilled to announce a partnership with global leading cryptocurrency exchange #Binance to launch https://t.co/QdEjB4Itoqhttps://t.co/l1LHsRSzLE
— BAM Trading Services (@BAM_Trading) June 14, 2019
While the company did register with a San Francisco address as a money services business with the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the registration document explains that FinCEN does not verify information submitted by the MSB,” and that the document “reflects only what was provided directly” in the registration documents.
Indeed, CoinDesk reported that “it is unclear who BAM Trading Services is,” although the company “appears to be working with Koi Compliance, the ‘fully-managed solutions’ wing of over-the-counter (OTC) crypto trader Koi Trading.”
(Photo: Binance)
