An infrastructure-oriented think-tank has asked the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to inquire on the world’s largest crypto-currency exchange’s local promotion offers without the required permits.
In his letter-complaint to DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, Infrawatch PH convenor Terry Ridon said; “We would like to bring to your immediate attention the illegal sales promotion of Binance which presumably have been launched without the necessary DTI permit considering the absence of a DTI permit number in the promotional advertisements and the general lack of applicable license and registration of Binance in the Philippines.”
Earlier, Ridon urged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to clamp down on Binance, an online platform for virtual asset trading, for operating in the Philippines without any license from the government. His group filed a six-page letter-request to BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno calling for the conduct of motu proprio proceedings on Binance operations in the country.
Ridon, a former legislator, maintained that Binance was illegally doing business in the Philippines.
“As you may be aware, Binance, an unregistered entity in the Philippines, has been offering its services in the country for several years already. Their unregistered activity allows Filipinos to buy and sell crypto-currencies and with wanton disregard of Philippine regulations, they perform the functions of a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) through an unregulated platform,” he added.
Ridon said these unregulated promotional campaigns expressly invites Filipino consumers to join with a promise of a reward ranging from monetary rewards, crypto-currencies, local and international trips and other prizes.
“The Filipino participants are even required to register or refer the promotions to people to register in Binance, purchase or avail themselves of products and services offered by Binance, or join competitions in order to get a chance to win these prizes.”
Ridon said he is worried that Filipinos’ hard-earned money that flows through Binance are unprotected due to Binance’s lack of regulatory license and compliance.
“Consumers who transact with and through Binance are thus left by themselves. No less than Finance Sec. Dominguez even confirmed this unregulated business operated by Binance.”
Ridon said Binance has a reputation for having weak money laundering checks and lax compliance rules, and has allowed laundering and other illicit activities to thrive on its platform. Just recently, Reuters released a report that Binance allegedly served as a conduit for laundering at least USD 2.35 billion in dirty money.
“Given the reckless and unlicensed sales promotion of Binance, together with their vehement disregard to Philippine laws, we strongly urge the Department of Trade and Industry to take action and order Binance to immediately cease and desist from offering their sales promotion to Filipinos for violating R.A. 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines.”
Ridon said these unregulated promotional campaigns expressly invites Filipino consumers to join with a promise of a reward ranging from monetary rewards, crypto-currencies, local and international trips and other prizes.
“The Filipino participants are even required to register or refer the promotions to people to register in Binance, purchase or avail themselves of products and services offered by Binance, or join competitions in order to get a chance to win these prizes.”
Ridon said he is worried that Filipinos’ hard-earned money that flows through Binance are unprotected due to Binance’s lack of regulatory license and compliance.
“Consumers who transact with and through Binance are thus left by themselves. No less than Finance Sec. Dominguez even confirmed this unregulated business operated by Binance.”
Ridon said Binance has a reputation for having weak money laundering checks and lax compliance rules, and has allowed laundering and other illicit activities to thrive on its platform. Just recently, Reuters released a report that Binance allegedly served as a conduit for laundering at least USD 2.35 billion in dirty money.
“Given the reckless and unlicensed sales promotion of Binance, together with their vehement disregard to Philippine laws, we strongly urge the Department of Trade and Industry to take action and order Binance to immediately cease and desist from offering their sales promotion to Filipinos for violating R.A. 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines.”