Binance Freezes @bittlecat's Account & Requires KYC Data for Attempted CoinJoin Withdrawal

Binance Funds Frozen Wasabi CoinJoin

Binance Singapore froze the account of user @bittlecat for attempting a Bitcoin withdrawal to a Wasabi mixing address. @bittlecat posted about this on Twitter and provided screenshots of the communication they had with Binance support:

Bitcoiners be warned: this is what happens if @BinanceSGD finds you withdrawing to @wasabiwallet

Not surprised that my transactions are tracked, it’s KYC after all

But I’m very concerned that Binance knew I was sending to wasabi, when all I input was a bc1 address, nothing more

– Catxolotl (@bittlecat) 19 Dec 2019

@bittlecat was required to submit KYC/AML data (specifically occupation, annual income, and reason for withdrawing to a Wasabi address) in order to have their account unsuspended and their funds unfrozen. Additionally, Binance required that they “acknowledge within 72 hours” that they would no longer withdraw to a mixing service going forward:

[…] Binance Singapore does not tolerate any transactions directly or indirectly with gambling, P2P, and especially darknet/mixer sites. As such, your account will be suspended until we obtain acknowledgement within 72 hours that you will not transact with any of the above-mentioned types of sites going forward.

The transaction was identified as going to a Wasabi mixing process almost certainly due to Wasabi’s use of a static fee address.


  Sources:

  1. twitter.com/bittlecat/status/1207621591820951552
  2. twitter.com/maxtannahill/status/1207627139547222016
  3. twitter.com/bittlecat/status/1207632559586197504
  4. twitter.com/bittlecat/status/1207894540322926593

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