The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Monday it blocked the cryptocurrency site Binance in the Philippines after the regulator found it to have offered an investment and trading platform without the necessary license from the commission.
The SEC said in a statement it proceeded with the blocking of the online presence of Binance and approved the filing of a formal request with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for assistance in blocking the website and other web pages used by the company.
“The SEC has identified the aforementioned platform 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 chairman Emilio Aquino said in the letter-request addressed to the NTC.
Binance defines itself as a facility for trading financial instruments and offers investment products — including spot trading using leverage, futures contracts, option contracts, cryptocurrency savings accounts, cryptocurrency staking services and a platform for initial coin offerings.
Touted as the largest cryptocurrency website in the world, Binance has an average daily trading volume of $65 billion covering more than 402 cryptocurrencies, with a membership of over 183 million, according to its website.
The SEC said, however, Binance had not secured license to solicit investments from the public, nor to create or operate an exchange for the buying and selling of securities, as required by Republic Act No. 8799, or The Securities Regulation Code (SRC).
It said the group had been employing promotional campaigns on social media to attract Filipinos to engage in investment and trading activities using its platforms. An app version is also downloadable on Google Playstore and the Apple App Store.
The SEC in November 2023 issued a public advisory to warn the public against investing in and using Binance.
It said that considering the size and volume of Binance’s operations, the investing public should be given enough time to exit the platform and reposition their portfolio in favor of authorized investment products and platforms.
The SEC said it was working with the NTC to block websites that are illegally offering investments in the country.
The NTC in February this year also ordered all internet service providers to block the websites and apps of OctaFX and MiTrade for the protection of the investing public, upon the commission’s request.
