The Dutch central bank asserts Binance is a cryptocurrency that operates illegally

The warning comes after authorities in a number of nations issued comments cautioning investors about Binance or suggesting the exchange was operating unlawfully. The Netherlands' national bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, has issued a warning to Binance Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries that provide crypto services to locals.

De Nederlandsche Bank stated in a statement on Wednesday that Binance was not complying with the country's Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Funding Act, putting customers at risk of "getting involved in money laundering or terrorist financing." Binance is allegedly illegally supplying crypto services and custodian wallets without the needed legal registration, according to the central bank.

The notice was sent to Binance Holdings Limited, the crypto exchange's parent firm, as well as businesses "under which Binance provides crypto services in the Netherlands," according to the Dutch central bank. This appears to be the case for the worldwide crypto exchange as well.

A Binance spokesman told Cointelegraph that the crypto exchange is "in the midst of submitting an application for the required registration" and that the central bank "will be working constructively" to meet its requirements.

"It's critical to Binance that our users' interests are safeguarded," the representative said. "We have a sophisticated compliance program that integrates tools and procedures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, even if we are not technically registered with [De Nederlandsche Bank] yet."

The warning comes after financial regulators in several countries declared Binance Holdings Limited ineligible to provide certain services to its citizens. Authorities in Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Cayman Islands, Thailand, Canada, Japan, and Singapore have released comments cautioning investors about Binance or claiming it is functioning unlawfully.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a Bloomberg interview on Tuesday that he was more concerned with ensuring that the exchange complied with local regulators in its transition to becoming a financial institution than with "the day-to-day operations of the exchange." Zhao has previously stated that he would be open to be replaced as CEO by “a senior person with a good compliance background.”

"We're transitioning from a technological pioneer to a financial services firm, so we need to be completely compliant,” Zhao explained. “I believe that at this time, all regulators around the world regard cryptocurrencies as financial instruments."

He continued, "

"We need to apply for licenses, and it's critical that we engage with authorities about their requests for regular meetings where we can proactively update them on what we're doing."

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