29 Countries to be Blocked on Binance DEX
The centralized cryptocurrency exchange launched by Binance is going to block users from 29 different countries from July 2019 onwards. It is presumed that this is being done due to regulatory issues that could arise from the tokens that will be listed on this platform.
Message from the DEX Platform
The 29 countries that are going to be blocked from trading on the Binance DEX platform are:
The US, Bosnia, Albania, Burma, Belarus, Central African Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Ukraine’s Crimean region, Croatia, Herzegovina, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, Kosovo, Liberia, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Macedonia, Somalia, Serbia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela, Syria, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
If any users from these countries access the Binance DEX platform, then a pop-up message appears stating that they have logged in from an IP address that belongs to one of the already mentioned countries. The message also stated that users from these locations will not be able to access or trade on this site from July 1, 2019 onwards.
Finally, this message gives the users a link to a list of wallets that support the Binance Chain Mainnet as alternatives for managing as well as holding assets with the crypto exchange.
Regulatory Concerns
According to some media sources, Binance could be taking these steps to block these 29 countries so that it does not fall afoul of the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).
The reference is to a case where the SEC accused the founder of another decentralized crypto exchange, EtherDelta, of running an unregistered national securities crypto exchange.
While Binance DEX doesn’t intend to add all the tokens that are supported by Binance Chain, there will be a strong probability that the company will not be able to control the trading of security tokens on its exchange.
Not a Decentralized Exchange
Many people in the crypto community have opined that if Binance DEX is taking such steps, then it would mean that the exchange isn’t truly decentralized.
Whale Panda, a popular crypto enthusiast on Twitter, states that there has never been a decentralized exchange, so the company should stop calling the platform a DEX. He also states that the word DEX is just being used to increase the value of the exchange’s native cryptocurrency Binance Coin (BNB) and it this platform has never meant to be decentralized.
Another Steemit post offers links to cryptocurrency trading platforms, where users are not required to go through KYC (Know Your Customer) checks and so can log in from anywhere.