Only Binance know why they did it but I thought Binance did it when they felt bigger risk from the trade war between two big nations.

Crypto Exchange Giant Binance to Launch US Trading Tuesday. It is in September 2019.

The China–United States trade war began since January 2018 but was escalated more some months later. It can be one of reasons or coincidence but it is not a matter now for Binance.

17   E. THE SCHEME
18   18.   Beginning no later than August 2017 and continuing until October 2022,
19   Defendant and its co-conspirators, including Zhao and Individuals 1 and 2, knowingly and
20   willfully conspired (i) to operate as an unlicensed MTB that failed to comply with
21   registration requirements under U.S. law and (ii) to violate the BSA by failing to establish,
22   implement, and maintain an effective AML program at Binance.
23   19.   MSBs, including money transmitters with effective AML programs, collect
24   KYC information that allows them to, among other things, identify users who are subject
25   to U.S. sanctions programs and prevent U.S. persons from conducting prohibited
26   transactions with persons subject to U.S. sanctions. During the relevant time period, many
27   MSBs, particularly those doing business wholly or in substantial part in the United States,


1   had AML programs that used KYC and other information to identify users subject to U.S.
2   sanctions programs and prevent U.S. persons from conducting prohibited transactions with
3   persons subject to U.S. sanctions.
4   20.   The purpose of the conspiracy was to allow Binance to operate as a virtual
5   currency exchange and gain market share and profit as quickly as possible. Defendant and
6   its co-conspirators accomplished this goal by attracting a substantial number of U.S. users
7   to Binance.com—particularly U.S. VIP users, who accounted for a significant percentage
8   of the overall trading volume on Binance.com. Defendant chose not to comply with U.S.
9   legal and regulatory requirements because it determined that doing so would limit its ability
10   to attract and maintain U.S. users. Defendant and its co-conspirators concealed Binance’s
11   avoidance and noncompliance with U.S. law.
12   21.   Defendant’s decision to prioritize its growth over compliance with U.S. legal
13   requirements meant that it facilitated billions of dollars of cryptocurrency transactions on
14   behalf of lts customers, including users in comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions such
15   as Iran, without implementing appropriate KYC procedures or conducting adequate
16   transaction monitoring. During the relevant period, Defendant knew that U.S. law
17   prohibited U.S. persons from conducting certain financial transactions with countries,
18   groups, entities, or persons sanctioned by the U.S. government. Defendant knew that it
19   serviced users from comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions and that these users were
20   prohibited from conducting transactions with U.S. persons. Defendant further l‹new that its
21   matching engine, i.e., Binance’s tool that matched customer bids and offers to execute
22   cryptocurrency trades, had been designed to execute cryptocurrency trades based on price
23   and time without regard to whether the matched customers were prohibited by law from
24   transacting with one another. Defendant also 1‹new that it did not block transactions
25   between users subject to U.S. sanctions and U.S. users and that its matching engine would
26   necessarily cause such transactions, in violation of U.S. law. During the relevant period,
27   Defendant nonetheless did not implement the necessary controls that would have prevented

1   Binance from causing U.S. users to conduct cryptocuiTency transactions with users in
2   comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions.