Binance’s Fee Processor Linked To Russian Cash Laundering Operation

• Advcash, a cash processor for Binance, is suspected of being a Russian cash laundering operation.
• Binance’s affiliation with Advcash raises issues about the usage of unknown third events for onboarding.
• Advcash’s operations primarily give attention to the previous Soviet Union, with site visitors sources and workers positioned in Russia and Ukraine.

An investigation by Ukrainian journalist, Kollen Put up urged that Binance cash processor Advcash is a Russian laundering operation in disguise. On July 18, the crypto information platform Protos reported that the crypto funds processor is a “veritable parade of cash laundering pink flags.”

Protos additional claims that Advcash has thinly disguised origins in Russia and suspected hyperlinks to the federal government, and suspects its world acceptance of nameless money deposits and employment of “ghost employees.”

Subsequent, the report explores Advcash’s function inside Binance’s operations, a query that the US SEC had already enquired Binance about. Based mostly on an e-mail change between the crypto agency and the regulator, it was revealed: A financial institution that wouldn’t onboard a consumer with a well-recognized identify like Binance is tricked into doing so by a 3rd social gathering with an unknown identify.

In response to Protos, regardless of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s “cryptic reassurance” that Binance didn’t have any asset losses at Silvergate, the accounts at each now-collapsed Silvergate and Signature Financial institution loved believable deniability by way of “LLCs no one had heard of.”

The connection between Advcash and Binance is especially noteworthy, as Advcash facilitates crypto providers by way of integration with Binance accounts. Analytical knowledge indicated that Binance-associated domains are incessantly visited by Advcash customers. Binance itself advisable Advcash as a method to transform cryptocurrency into fiat foreign money, a truth acknowledged by the SEC in its case towards Binance, which included a screenshot of this steering as proof.

Furthermore, Protos’ investigation revealed that whereas Advcash’s official company is registered in Belize, the majority of its enterprise operations lie throughout the former Soviet Union, as evidenced by knowledge from SimilarWeb, which highlighted Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Israel, and Venezuela as the first site visitors sources to Advcash’s web site. Moreover, a short examination of LinkedIn profiles disclosed that almost all declared workers are positioned in Russia and Ukraine.

Moreover, the corporate’s web site beforehand featured helpline numbers with Russian and Belizean space codes, with the Belizean quantity aligning with Moscow’s working hours. Whereas Belize’s company registry gives restricted info, the nation is listed as a serious cash laundering jurisdiction.

As well as, Advcash claimed partnerships with main Russian banks, together with these below US sanctions resembling Yandex Cash, PrivatBank, AlfaBank, and Sberbank. Early associations with the crypto world concerned BTC-e, a infamous cash laundering change, and its successor, WEX, which had hyperlinks to Russia-backed militants and the Russian FSB.