North Dakota Revokes Binance License Amidst Zhao Prison Sentence

Binance US’s money transmitter license in North Dakota was revoked due to non-compliance issues.

North Dakota has chosen to revoke Binance US’s money transmitter license due to concerns over compliance issues and the legal challenges faced by its founder, Changpeng Zhao. 

The North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions announced that Binance US failed to comply with North Dakota laws.

“The Commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions has revoked the money transmitter license of BAM Trading Services, Inc. doing business as Binance.US,” the order read.

In April, Zhao pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws, resulting in a four-month prison sentence for Binance’s involvement. 

Zhao initially pled guilty in November 2023, making Florida the first state not to revoke BAM’s transmitter license. Other states, such as Alaska, Florida, Maine, North Carolina, and Oregon, have also revoked or declined to renew the exchange’s license.

The announcement specified many key reasons for the decision, with Zhao’s felony for violating fe­deral anti-money laundering laws being the ke­y deciding factor. Binance and Zhao were federally convicted for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The decision to withdraw the license also cited Binance.US’s insufficient anti-money laundering program as a contributing factor. 

During the investigation, North Dakota’s financial regulators expressed concerns over the company’s lack of transparency and cooperation. They pointed out that Binance.US failed to provide documents and records for compliance.

The lack of cooperation — on top of Zhao’s conviction — ultimately led to the decision to revoke the license, as it breached trust and regulatory standards.