Why did Binance make this move

Prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Binance announced the discontinuation of Korean Won trading pairs and payment options. Effective immediately, the exchange will stop offering KRW trading pairs, KRW payment options along peer-to-peer [P2P] merchant applications. The exchange will also stop its Korean language website support, as per the official announcement

Binance also added,

“Binance P2P will remove KRW trading pairs on Friday, 2021-08-13 at 11:00 UTC (20:00 UTC+9). Users are advised to complete all related P2P trades and remove related trade advertisements by 2021-08-13 10:00 UTC (19:00 UTC+9) to avoid potential trading disputes.”

As the exchange severed all ties with the users in South Korea, it was a first for Binance to back off even before the government took its notice. Although South Korean regulators made the norms stricter for cryptocurrency exchanges to function within the country, they have not yet launched an investigation against Binance.

This could be Binance’s efforts to comply with the changing regulations in both only South Korea but other parts of the world too. It added,

“Our aim is to create a sustainable ecosystem around blockchain technology and digital assets. Binance welcomes developments to our industry’s regulatory framework as they pose opportunities for the market players to have greater collaboration with the regulators. We are committed to working constructively in policy-making that seeks to benefit every user.”

As Binance bowed out of South Korea, exchanges within the country have to comply with its changing Anti-Money Laundering [AML] regulations. Under these norms, the exchanges will have to have real-name bank accounts for customers that can be verifiable and register with the authorities.

As the regulations change rapidly to catch up with the evolving cryptocurrency sector, Binance has decided to work more sustainably with regulators.