Checkout.com terminates contract with Binance over regulatory concerns

Checkout.com has ended its contract with crypto giant Binance.

London-based Checkout.com’s founder and CEO Guillaume Pousaz cut ties with the crypto exchange over “reports of regulators actions and orders in relevant jurisdictions” and “inquiries from partners”, as reported by Forbes.

He terminated the relationship over two letters sent earlier this month, the first of which specifically referenced additional regulatory and compliance concerns.

These included Binance’s anti-money laundering, sanctions and compliance controls, according to Forbes.

A spokesperson from Binance confirmed the termination of the contract with TechCrunch.

“There is no impact on our services and users can continue to use on-and off-ramps as usual,” the spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Now Binance is contemplating legal action against Checkout.com over the termination of the contract.

“We have come a long way to building an industry-leading compliance program and we hope to build more trust with regulators and partners,” a Binance spokesperson said in a statement.

The decision to end the partnership comes a few months after the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed 13 charges against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly operating a “web of deception”.

It specifically claimed the crypto exchange artificially inflated trading volumes, diverted customer funds and misled investors. 

Last week Binance filed a protective court order against the regulator saying its requests were “over broad” and “unduly burdensome”.