In a major reversal, payments giant Mastercard has reportedly resumed support for Binance users.
Last August, Mastercard, which boasts the second-largest payments network, pulled the plug on the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume in the world. This coincided with Binance's mounting legal troubles. In June 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission took Binance to court, accusing it of operating as an unlicensed trading platform in the U.S. while violating U.S. securities laws.
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Binance's legal woes reached a tipping point in late 2023, when it was forced to shell out $4.3 billion in order to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after pleading guilty to allowing rampant money laundering on the exchange. Changpeng Zhao, the exchange's longtime CEO, resigned and was later sentenced to four months behind bars.
In an attempt to improve Binance's tarnished image, Richard Teng, the exchange's new boss, has repeatedly stressed the importance of regulatory compliance.
Mastercard's U-turn came after the company had assessed Binance's recent efforts to implement enhanced controls. However, the ability to conduct future purchases is contingent on future reviews conducted by the credit card behemoth.
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Mastercard has long been a crypto-curious company, specifically focusing on the promise of blockchain technology for enhancing payments.
In 2018, it emerged as one of the top companies by a number of blockchain-related patents, alongside such names as IBM and Alibaba. In 2020, it started testing the viability of stablecoins for conducting payments in partnership with Circle. In 2022, it forged a partnership with cryptocurrency payment app MoonPay to make it possible for its customers to purchase non-fungible tokens.
