German scandal was a major misunderstanding: CoinBene speaks out

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CoinBene, the cryptocurrency exchange, was in the news recently after the German financial watchdog accused it of operating without acquiring the necessary licensing. BaFin also accused the exchange of hiring crypto traders who conduct trades on behalf of its members. Germany classifies cryptos as financial instruments and as a result, crypto traders must be registered under the German baking law, the Kreditwesengesetz (KWG).

However, the company that BaFin issued a notice against was CoinBene LTD Germany, a clone that had impersonated the Singaporean exchange to lure unsuspecting customers in. Speaking to CoinGeek, the exchange denied any association with the German clone company.

The exchange had received notices about the new clone weeks before BaFin issued a warning. As it does with all the other cases of fraud and scam, it “issued a warning to our users through our Twitter and website to not trust these fraudulent recruitment attempts by CoinBene impostors,” the exchange told CoinGeek. It added:

“We have been dealing with similar phishing and scam activities for some time now since CoinBene’s reputation has grown steadily in the cryptosphere. Criminals attempt to hijack our reputation to scam unknowing users who wish to use our services, and we’ve always dealt with them with punctual warnings & announcements to our users, as well as actively reporting and cooperating with law enforcement agencies.”

CoinBene had quickly reached out to BaFin after it up the warning and the two entities resolved the matter. The watchdog updated its notice to reflect the changes. CoinBene also shared all the information it had with German Zentrale Ansprechstellen Cyber­crime der Polizeien (ZAC) Rheinland-Pfalz Division, the region where the clone claimed to be from. The exchange is yet to hear from the German authorities, and so “it assumes that the investigation is still ongoing.”

The exchange also told CoinGeek that despite the attacks on its reputations, it’s been doing exceptionally well this year. It launched MoonBase this year, an assets priority platform that “serves to present the best projects blockchain industry has to offer, and provides comprehensive services to projects wanting to list on CoinBene.”

CoinBene also launched contract trading, a significant move in its push to build a one-stop platform for both the retail and institutional traders. Its international operations in Brazil, Japan and South Korea have also been doing exceptionally well, the exchange told CoinGeek.

The exchange has some grand plans for the future, the first of which will be to expand its operations globally. Japan, South Korea and Brazil will be its main targets, with its operations in these countries already hitting and exceeding targets. It has also partnered with strategic companies to develop its infrastructure, with some major announcements already in the pipeline.

The exchange concluded by clarifying its position on the fake volume scandal. Having been one of the dozens of exchanges that a recent report cited as engaging in the faking of trade volume, CoinBene sought to distance itself from such claims.

The exchange stated under no uncertain terms: “CoinBene has not engaged in any volume faking. We have noticed independent market makers on the platform faking volume in order to earn more commissions from us, and we’ve been strictly clamping down on this type of behavior by implementing more stringent filters and policies.”