Binance support employees help customers in China bypass KYC.

[coupable]

In conjunction with what happened today [failure of some features on the platform], a report was issued on the CNBC website confirming that employees on Binance are providing solutions to Chinese users so that they can bypass KYC verification procedures, after analyzing chat messages published on some Telegram and Discord servers managed by Binance.
Crypto is banned in China, but Binance employees and support volunteers tell people how to bypass the ban
The report states that more than 220,000 Chinese users have succeeded in verifying their accounts on Binance with the help of workers in the Binance support teams.
This is contrary not only to the laws of use on Binance, but also to the legislation of China, which has prohibited the activity of trading platforms since 2017 and banned cryptocurrencies since 2021.

Experts in financial regulation shared concern that Binance’s KYC and AML efforts can be so easily thwarted :

Wells Fargo anti-money-laundering executive Jim Richards agreed that the techniques for bypassing Binance’s KYC controls could have implications beyond China. “What about North Korean customers, or Russian customers, or Iranian customers?” Richards asked.

“If I had a eight out of 10 concern about Binance from a regulatory perspective and from a national security perspective, this takes it to a 10 out of 10,” Duke University professor and former FDIC Chief Innovation Officer Sultan Meghji told CNBC.
Meghji’s concerns about the laxity of Binance’s enforcement of KYC guidelines extend beyond China. “I think explicitly about the national security implications of how terrorists, criminals, money launderers, cyber people in North Korea, Russian oligarchs, etc., could use this to get access to this infrastructure,” he said, referring to some of the techniques described.

Source from the same article.

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[rat03gopoh]

In conjunction with what happened today [failure of some features on the platform], a report was issued on the CNBC website confirming that employees on Binance are providing solutions to Chinese users so that they can bypass KYC verification procedures, after analyzing chat messages published on some Telegram and Discord servers managed by Binance.

The question is, is the KYC verifier system prepared by the AML regulator, or is it by Binance (or a 3rd party)? Is this a weakness of the system for which it was designed?
If CZ counted as an employee, he was Chinese in that sense. However, China is the most promising market share compared to other countries which might be a shame to miss.

Well, it hasn't been 24 hours I've talked how to take down competitors.

[tabas]

It only means that Binance's KYC system is flawed and too weak. So, based on the article of CNBC, it was said that these "angels" or employees or binance volunteers have taught ways to bypass the KYC and one of it is through forging and falsification of documents.

Some of the techniques that employees and volunteers have shared involve forging bank documents or offering false addresses. Others involve simple manipulation of Binance’s systems.

Employees, volunteers and customers also shared video guides and documents that showed mainland residents how to falsify their country of residence in order to obtain Binance’s debit card, which would effectively turn their Binance crypto into a conventional checking account.

CZ shouldn't tolerate this and I guess he has to make some shuffling or reorganization or completely remove all of those employees from departments that are assigned on the KYC process. That's the only thing he can do when news like circulates on the web on how flawed their system was.

[coupable]

As I understood from the articles published on the news, the Telegram and Discord groups managed by Binance were providing support to the Chinese group in the Chinese language, which makes it difficult to track what is happening if there is no close supervision of the administrators of those groups by the Binance administration. 
It is funny that the owner of the platform is of Chinese origin, but it seems that he is the only Chinese in management, and this is understandable since the platform does not support China and that any potential Chinese user will be residing outside China in a country supported by Binance.

[Lucius]

I would not be surprised if there is some truth in that, after all, it is about profit - they say that the forbidden fruit is the sweetest. Considering the almost 1.5 billion Chinese, those 220 000 do not seem like such a large number, and if they are not some significant players on that market, maybe the communist party will pretend that something like this is not happening.

Even if they know and want to do something, will they put all 220 000 people in prison or will they hunt CZ around the world?

[coupable]

I would not be surprised if there is some truth in that, after all, it is about profit - they say that the forbidden fruit is the sweetest. Considering the almost 1.5 billion Chinese, those 220 000 do not seem like such a large number, and if they are not some significant players on that market, maybe the communist party will pretend that something like this is not happening.

The number of 220,000 users represents only a very small percentage of the Chinese population, that's right.  But it represents a significant percentage of the total number of Binance users, and in the best cases it will represent the most important percentage of users in Asia compared to other countries.  
If anyone should be held accountable, it is Binance itself for its indulgence with users it said it did not support.  As for China, I do not think that it acts against its own citizens.  China cannot know them without Binance providing them with their data.

[Darker45]

It only means that Binance's KYC system is flawed and too weak. So, based on the article of CNBC, it was said that these "angels" or employees or binance volunteers have taught ways to bypass the KYC and one of it is through forging and falsification of documents.

Some of the techniques that employees and volunteers have shared involve forging bank documents or offering false addresses. Others involve simple manipulation of Binance’s systems.

Employees, volunteers and customers also shared video guides and documents that showed mainland residents how to falsify their country of residence in order to obtain Binance’s debit card, which would effectively turn their Binance crypto into a conventional checking account.

CZ shouldn't tolerate this and I guess he has to make some shuffling or reorganization or completely remove all of those employees from departments that are assigned on the KYC process. That's the only thing he can do when news like circulates on the web on how flawed their system was.

My opinion may have a certain amount of prejudice or bias, but my general observation is that Chinese people are first and foremost Chinese and it is only secondary that they are businessmen or employees or law enforcers or professors or even sentient or moral beings. For what it's worth, the Chinese people are Chinese more than people.

So I don't think the problem is just that the KYC system is flawed and weak. It is that Chinese people are controlling the system and that they are accommodating their fellow Chinese to get onboard surpassing all the necessary processes. And CZ is probably not in the position to tolerate it or not. However strongly he denies that Binance is not a Chinese company, it essentially is.

[Lucius]

The number of 220,000 users represents only a very small percentage of the Chinese population, that's right.  But it represents a significant percentage of the total number of Binance users, and in the best cases it will represent the most important percentage of users in Asia compared to other countries.

Maybe it's just greed, and maybe company B is doing so badly that they had to take a risk and start providing their services where they are prohibited. However, I would take those numbers with a grain of salt, because every Chinese CEX has proven to manipulate all possible data in the past.

 
If anyone should be held accountable, it is Binance itself for its indulgence with users it said it did not support.  As for China, I do not think that it acts against its own citizens.  China cannot know them without Binance providing them with their data.

I would not agree that China does not know what is happening, because one of the characteristics of communism is espionage at all levels, and if something of such proportions is happening, believe me they know it. If they had to detect something, it is the outflow of money that somehow reaches CEX, and that is not easy to hide.

[dansus021]

Is Binance know about this or is this just an internal employee who wants money to pass the KYC access?

Last time I do KYC on Binance is hard everything need to be same  . Binance is one of the strict exchange in my opinion when it comes to KYC, back then I keep changing my address because I'm using VPN and my account got blocked. but how something like this get pass

[Potato Chips]

Last time I do KYC on Binance is hard everything need to be same  . Binance is one of the strict exchange in my opinion when it comes to KYC, back then I keep changing my address because I'm using VPN and my account got blocked. but how something like this get pass

It's not a perfect system and there will always be room for bad actors to bypass the system. Forging/stealing personal documents/information is also a business that has existed for a long time. Naturally, the buying and selling of verified exchange accounts with fake/stolen information has been flourishing lol, see: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/10/19/for-200-you-can-trade-crypto-with-a-fake-id/

From the article, binance angels knows how to fool the system and coached people coming from prohibited places. I do wonder how deep does this extend since I know binance also has a manual verification where you have to go thru binance's staffs...

[hugeblack]

Although I doubt the professionalism of Binance support employees team, especially their dealings with what is related to privacy and his exchange of information for profit, the article appears a little bias or with more political motives than being organized, as China and some countries mentioned by name instead of the dangers of money laundering or illegal trade.
It seems that the platform faces a legal^[1] and media war.

[1] Binance sued by CTFC

[Aikidoka]

Is Binance know about this or is this just an internal employee who wants money to pass the KYC access?

I think Binance is aware of the entire situation, and it's quite surprising that they are assisting users in bypassing KYC regulations despite the fact that trading is prohibited in China for several years now. It seems like they are being too greedy and trying to make more money from Chinese traders.

Last time I do KYC on Binance is hard everything need to be same  . Binance is one of the strict exchange in my opinion when it comes to KYC, back then I keep changing my address because I'm using VPN and my account got blocked. but how something like this get pass

Anyway, I agree with you about how hard it is the KYC on Binance, they're really strict when it comes to security and they could block your account anytime if there's something fishy going on, which that makes it weird of how they let Chinese traders bypass KYC easily.

[noorman0]

-snip-
So I don't think the problem is just that the KYC system is flawed and weak. It is that Chinese people are controlling the system and that they are accommodating their fellow Chinese to get onboard surpassing all the necessary processes. And CZ is probably not in the position to tolerate it or not. However strongly he denies that Binance is not a Chinese company, it essentially is.

It seemed like a complicated situation for CZ to avoid any unfavorable presuppositions, especially after all he was a Chinese blood who could be presumed to have some involvement with this operation.

Anyway, I agree with you about how hard it is the KYC on Binance, they're really strict when it comes to security and they could block your account anytime if there's something fishy going on, which that makes it weird of how they let Chinese traders bypass KYC easily.

AA lousy KYC system isn't a fairy tale even on an exchange the size of Binance although I haven't had a chance to try with them,  I've only gotten away with the KYC process on a few exchanges in the past using random ids.

[dansus021]

It's not a perfect system and there will always be room for bad actors to bypass the system. Forging/stealing personal documents/information is also a business that has existed for a long time. Naturally, the buying and selling of verified exchange accounts with fake/stolen information has been flourishing lol, see: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/10/19/for-200-you-can-trade-crypto-with-a-fake-id/

Just read the article and that is insane I mean people willing to do KYC for 200$  If the user uses it for hacking and some illegal activities he will be doomed.

and pretty crazy they need their customer support before anything can be messed up especially if the  case in court

[dansus021]

Just now I finished reading the article and found that what is happening is really crazy. As it is very easy, according to the article, to create a verified account on a reputable platform, since the price of $200 is a very small amount compared to the product provided. Also, I am surprised that there are customers in such a market, since the seller must be trusted, who can close the account he created at any time or manipulate wallets. Also, how can a person trust an account that is not in his name, send money to it, and risk that no one notices it? I find this really crazy.

I agree with you I mean 200$ is not really small amount but if this only for bypass KYC this really cheap amount I mean the buyer can sell his kyc or making his data to do kyc in other platform for free

[Lucius]

Unfortunately, many people live in difficult living conditions and are ready to sell their identity even for much less than $200, and it seems that this business is flourishing at the moment. I read the article and according to everything it says, no CEX has an effective way to check who is actually behind which account, because the services offered are really "professional", and with the help of new technologies, especially AI, fake documents are made even easier.

Even on this forum, we can find members who sell verified accounts on various exchange platforms, and the article also mentions specialized forums that deal exclusively with this.

[alterra57]

It's not their first time doing something like this, they want to suck in as much volume as possible and Chinese customers (the ones they're helping) have a lot of money.

[NotATether]

It's not a perfect system and there will always be room for bad actors to bypass the system. Forging/stealing personal documents/information is also a business that has existed for a long time. Naturally, the buying and selling of verified exchange accounts with fake/stolen information has been flourishing lol, see: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/10/19/for-200-you-can-trade-crypto-with-a-fake-id/

Just read the article and that is insane I mean people willing to do KYC for 200$  If the user uses it for hacking and some illegal activities he will be doomed.

and pretty crazy they need their customer support before anything can be messed up especially if the  case in court

There's a reason why they are called "Fake IDs". They are illegal, and if you are caught using one, you're going to be destroyed in meatspace.

Just look at some of the once high-profile users here who have now vanished because they were caught by law enforcement with fake IDs.