Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has reportedly managed to maintain a significant presence in China, even after the country banned cryptocurrency trading in 2021. 

What Happened: Internal figures obtained by The Wall Street Journal, along with accounts from current and former employees, reveal that Chinese users traded a staggering $90 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets in just one month. 

These numbers, if true, make China Binance’s biggest market, accounting for 20% of global trading volume, excluding trades made by a small group of large-scale traders.

Despite the ban, Binance’s investigations team reportedly collaborates closely with Chinese law enforcement to detect potential criminal activities among the over 900,000 active users in the country.

Binance did not respond to Benzinga’s comment at the time of publishing this article.

In June, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, accusing them of operating illegally and misusing customer funds. 

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Why It Matters: The Journal reported that Binance has assisted Chinese users in circumventing restrictions by directing them to visit Chinese domain websites before ultimately rerouting them to the global exchange. 

In an effort to maintain national security and social stability, China expanded its clampdown on the cryptocurrency industry in 2021, declaring all cryptocurrency-related transactions illegal. 

Binance’s competitor, Huobi, has even encouraged Chinese users to obtain Dominican digital citizenship, enabling them to trade on their platform. Additionally, cryptocurrency traders in China and other countries utilize virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their locations and access banned exchanges.

Price Action: At the time of writing, apex crypto Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading at $29,623.61, up 2.36% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.

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