The Federal Court of Australia has ordered Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia Derivatives, to pay a A$10 million (about $6.9 million) penalty after admitting it misclassified the vast majority of its Australian customers and exposed retail investors to high‑risk crypto derivatives without required safeguards.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found that 524 retail investors were incorrectly treated as wholesale clients between July 2022 and April 2023. Those customers later recorded A$6.3 million in trading losses and paid about A$2.6 million in fees. In a statement of agreed facts, Binance’s local derivatives unit conceded multiple compliance failures, including failing to provide product disclosure statements to retail clients, not making a target market determination, and lacking a compliant internal dispute resolution process.
The A$10 million penalty is separate from roughly A$9 million in compensation the unit was ordered to pay affected clients in November 2023. Further details are available in court documents and ASIC’s media release.
Binance did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Cointelegraph states that this article adheres to its editorial policy and encourages readers to verify information independently.