SEC asks Google, Apple: Remove Binance from app marketplaces

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has urged both Google and Apple to remove the crypto-currency service app Binance from their respective application marketplaces.

In a press release issued by the SEC on Tuesday, it was announced that separate letters were sent to Google and Apple, requesting the removal of applications controlled by Binance in the Philippines.

“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,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said in the letter.

Aquino also mentioned that selling or offering unregistered securities to Filipinos and acting as an unregistered broker is against Republic Act No. 8799, also known as The Securities Regulation Code.

He further emphasized that removing and blocking applications of the crypto-trading application 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 request by the SEC follows weeks after the agency asked the National Telecommunications Commission to block access to websites used by Binance in the country.

In a previous statement by Aquino, he said that it poses a threat to “the security of the funds of investing Filipinos.”

Binance provides a platform for trading various financial instruments and investment products, such as spot trading with leverage, futures contracts, option contracts, cryptocurrency savings accounts, cryptocurrency staking services and a platform for initial coin offerings. 

With an average daily trading volume of $65 billion across more than 402 cryptocurrencies and a user base exceeding 183 million, Binance is currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to the SEC.