To help a rival operator locate $10.7 million in stolen funds, a London court has ordered crypto exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Luno, to provide customer information after a Tuesday hearing. A total of six exchanges, all of which are headquartered outside of the UK, are a part of the order. The data includes names, bank account information, and card details, subject to some redactions.
The rival exchange to whom the client data must be given remains anonymous. The exchange was able to locate $1.7 million of illicit gains from when it was hacked in 2020. The $1.7 million was split across 26 accounts into six offshore cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase. The exchanges must now provide the necessary papers by a new UK regulation that applies to foreign businesses.
After it was compromised in 2020, the UK exchange urged the court to get involved. However, when UK law enforcement did not yield any results, the organization recruited crypto-tracing specialists.
Moreover, Syedur Rahman, from the law firm Rahman Ravelli, which represented the U.K.-based exchange stated,
“The case is a huge step forward for those who are trying to recover assets that have been taken fraudulently and moved across borders.”
In order to locate their assets, the court found it would be “impractical and contrary to the interests of justice” to oblige a victim of fraud to submit speculative applications in various jurisdictions.
Binance and other exchanges ordered by US Senator to provide financials
The London court order follows the recent request by US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) for financial data of Binance, Kraken, KuCoin, Bitfinex, and Gemini. The senator asked the businesses to provide additional details about how they manage client assets and money. Wyden also wanted the corporations’ balance sheets and an explanation of their contingency plans in the event of a catastrophe, such as bankruptcy.
Wyden listed numerous federal regulations that regularly fail to protect cryptocurrency buyers, citing the recent FTX collapse.