Binance Australia plans to roll out new measures that aim at protecting vulnerable users on its platform by focusing on a stringent and user-focused onboarding experience.
Binance Australia releases its June quarter report outlining the plan to tighten up its onboarding process for new users through new measures outlined by the firm.
The Economic Social and Governance (ESG) report by Binance came out on August 29, 2022.
New measures by Binance Australia
Binance Australia aims to protect users from financial crypto crime amid the rampant crypto scams witnessed recently. The company focuses on a stringent and user-focused onboarding experience.
The initiative targets groups with a higher occurrence of financial crime. According to the CEO, Leigh Travers, the company actively focuses on ways to protect vulnerable users. The protection mechanism starts from the onboarding process.
Zachary Lu from the exchange’s Financial Crime Risk and Compliance Unit also seconded the move. Lu reiterated that Binance Australia seeks to address the whole financial management sector.
The company plans to look at it from end to end and as a whole. Binance Australia will focus on three main areas; onboarding, ongoing and the end of the life cycle.
Lu stated that Binance flagged the elderly and people with disabilities as the most vulnerable. People living in remote areas also faced a risk of financial crime.
Zachary insisted that Binance Australia will focus on dealing with investment scams.
Investment scams affecting vulnerable users
Investment scams traversed the crypto world as one of the most experienced financial crimes recently. Criminals promise inordinate returns on investments to dupe people into sending them money.
Investment scams cost users a great loss in digital assets and funds. Over $25 million was lost in the first half of 2021 due to bogus investment schemes.
Lu insisted that Australians experienced over 500 different financial scams. He claimed that investment scams comprised a majority of the reported scams.
Recently, Binance Australia launched a Know Your Customer (KYC) focused quiz. The quiz enables the company to flag any potentially suspicious activity. The CEO, Travers, reiterated that vulnerable users fall prey to scams within the first seven-day window after onboarding.
Binance Australia plans to incorporate stringent requirements for the onboarding process. The company will require users to provide a photo of their driver’s license and number.
Crypto regulation in Australia
In Australia, cryptocurrency remains legal but largely unregulated. Australians continue to experience a digital revolution across all sectors of the economy. However, regulatory measures seem to struggle to keep pace and adapt to the crypto sector.
Due to increased levels of investment scams, Australian Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, announced countermeasures. The Treasurer announced plans to offer greater protection for consumers. It suffices to say that many crypto products also go unregulated in the country.
According to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), platforms providing crypto services are not regulated.
Meanwhile, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) plans a policy roadmap for platforms in the crypto business. APRA will roll out the first draft of the policy roadmap by the end of 2022.
With the recent cases of financial crimes, the crypto industry needs to be regulated to protect vulnerable users.
