Binance Australia has paid a $2 million fine as part of the ACMA’s crackdown on spam.
Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange, actually, it’s the largest in the world. And just like many global companies, they have an Australian arm. The local outpost is legally known as Investbybit Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia.
Today, Binance Australia has paid an infringement notice of $2,000,220, all part of the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) ongoing crackdown on spam.
Per the release from the ACMA, its investigation found Binance Australia sent over 5.7 million commercial emails that either made it difficult for consumers to opt-out by requiring them to log into an account or didn’t contain a way to unsubscribe. The ACMA also found that Binance sent 25 emails without the consent of the recipients.
The emails, which were sent between October 2021 and May 2022, promoted Binance Australia’s cryptocurrency trading services and other crypto financial products, the ACMA said.
“Customers should not be made to log-in to stop receiving messages,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.
“It is very concerning that we continue to see breaches of the spam laws from large size companies that should have good compliance practices in place. The Spam Act has been in force since 2003, so there are simply no excuses.”
The ACMA has also accepted a 3-year court-enforceable undertaking from Binance Australia that commits it to an independent review of its e-marketing practices and implementation of improvements. The company must also train its staff and report to the ACMA under the arrangements.
O’Loughlin also said as part of its investigation, the ACMA had contacted Binance Australia on several occasions to warn it that it may have had compliance problems and it failed to take adequate action.
It has been an interesting week for Binance, the company had paused withdrawals following a spike in user activity, which, The Guardian reports, was more than a billion dollars pulled from the platform in a single day.