Google and Apple have been ordered by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to remove Binance from their app stores.
This comes after the SEC deems Binance to be a ‘threat to the security of Filipinos funds’ as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is currently listed as an unregistered broker offering unregistered securities in the Southeast Asian country.
The SEC released its statement yesterday (23 April) ordering the removal of the Binance app on the Apple App Store and Google’s Play Store after concluding that the tokens and digital assets circulating on the Binance violate securities regulations.
SEC Chairperson, Emilio B. Aquin, said: “The SEC has identified (Binance) and concluded that the public’s continued access to these websites/apps poses a threat to the security of the funds of investing Filipinos.
“Removing and blocking applications of Binance will prevent the further proliferation of its illegal activities in the country, and to protect the investing public from its detrimental effects on our economy.”
This move to block Binance on app stores comes following the Philippine’s National Telecommunications Commission had moved to block access to the Binance website, which was first proposed in November.
The SEC has previously warned the public against using Binance due to its unregulated stance and potential danger of investing in the tokens offered on both the website and the app due to the volatile nature of the market.
The Filipino government will have acknowledged the problems the crypto exchange has and is currently facing in the US. Binance had to settle with the US Department of Justice a record $4.3bn fee over AML and KYC failures, as well as breaking the US Bank Secrecy Act.
Its former CEO and Founder, Changpeng Zhao, is expected to learn his prison sentence date in the next week, with the DOJ proposing a 36-month prison sentence.
