Binance Faces Allegations of Silencing P2P Traders Who Never Received Their Money

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, has had a rough year. There are concerns about withholding cash from customers of its P2P marketplace.

Since the demise of the FTX crypto exchange, Binance has suffered a consistent stream of criticism. Many impacted users and investors even accused Binance of contributing to FTX’s death.

The situation then deteriorated when the exchange declared that consumers would be unable to withdraw amounts less than $100,000 via the SWIFT global payments network.

Binance was also forced to deactivate certain accounts associated with the Russia-based Bitzlato exchange after discovering that it was using Binance to route cash unlawfully. Most recently, funds and consumer wallets were intermingled in its B-Tokens, which are wrapped assets that can be bridged across other networks.

Users of its P2P (peer-to-peer) marketplace have now accused the exchange of blocking their accounts. Some of these impacted users contacted BeInCrypto to share their tales and experiences.

Individuals who purchase and sell cryptocurrencies directly with one another without the participation of a central authority are known as peer-to-peer (P2P) traders. To ease transactions, they use sites like Binance P2P. These traders usually aim to acquire or sell cryptocurrencies rapidly and conveniently without using a centralized exchange or financial institution. Lower costs, quicker transactions, and more privacy and security are all advantages of peer-to-peer trading.

A Reddit user with the handle u/minghuaa was among the first to point up the dialogue. The person stated on Reddit that Binance wrecked their life after they could not withdraw their life savings using Binance’s P2P marketplace. Despite being validated, the Binance customer service team said that the “buyer’s money was stolen, and the transaction was annulled.”

“I am new to crypto and felt Binance was the finest,” the impacted customer informed BeInCrypto. However, until I had a difficulty, I discovered that they are sometimes accommodating and sometimes not.”

Another Canadian user was similarly kept in the dark after utilizing Binance’s P2P transfer method. Unfortunately, a Binance administrator removed this user’s Reddit post after they revealed their tale.

Binance has had its fair share of regulatory troubles, particularly in the United Kingdom and Australia, and this is now generating problems for clients in those countries:

Those who did receive a response from Binance’s support personnel were irritated:

While conversing with BeInCrypto on Twitter, one person stated:

“This is unreal… failure to withdraw funds via Binance. Then they ask you to ‘appeal,’ waiting three days for the result to see if you can withdraw your own money. Fu@@ing crazy.”

BeInCrypto reached out to Binance for comment to gain more information. So far, the only answer has come from someone who stated, ‘let me check on this and get back to you.’

While waiting for an official response, BeInCrypto discovered possible solutions to some of these issues.

According to a law company representing Polish P2P merchants, Binance has begun restricting P2P accounts that make numerous transactions of the same amount and from the same person. This might be in keeping with the recent adjustments to the P2P rules, which were issued on January 31.

In the video above, the lawyer claims:

“Ultimately, the best practice would be to do only one and diversify the pool of people you work with as part of P2P. Unfortunately, the regulations do not specify how many transactions mean repeated counterparty. Based on my clients’ experience, most often, the lock can be applied with the 4th operation. Furthermore, you shouldn’t do many small orders in a short time and one by one.”

He also advised against trades with relatively close values, such as EUR 2,000, EUR 2,100, or EUR 2,500. Furthermore, dividing a more significant transaction into smaller ones is not desired. For example, a EUR 10,000 order should not be divided into five EUR 2,000 transactions.

Remember, these are merely anecdotal accounts at this stage. Binance, like any other cryptocurrency exchange, may have technical difficulties that prohibit consumers from withdrawing their cash. It’s also crucial to remember that cryptocurrency exchanges are vulnerable to hacking and other security risks; therefore, holding money in a safe cold wallet rather than on a business is always suggested.