Source: Binance

「When my assets were frozen, I felt like the sky was falling. I, an ordinary law-abiding citizen, was suddenly involved in a so-called case-related fund.」 said Peter, a player in the crypto world who had experienced asset freezing. The experience of that freeze left him physically and mentally exhausted. He carried around printed bank statements, identification documents, account proofs, and tirelessly shuttled between banks and police stations day and night. The fact that his account funds were related to a criminal case once brought him immense mental stress. In the cryptocurrency world, countless similar dramas are unfolding. Some have had their lives severely impacted by unexpected freezes, while others have been so frightened that they dare not set foot in this field again.

The C2C model of cryptocurrency is essentially a user-to-user trading activity. Fiat money operates outside the platform through traditional financial channels such as banks, while digital assets rely on platform custody. The funds are released only after the recipient confirms the payment, and in some cases, transactions are based solely on trust between individuals. Since the transaction parties are self-selected, the reliability and legality behind them are somewhat opaque. Even when operating on a compliant platform, it is challenging to completely shield the circulation of "dirty" money within the channel. In extreme cases, it may lead to consequences such as asset freezing.

Faced with these challenging issues, top platforms are leveraging risk control matrices and post-transaction safeguards to optimize the trading journey. Binance's C2C, as an industry leader, has maintained a relatively low freeze rate over the long term due to its massive trading volume and user base. Its merchant order completion rate remains high, fraud and freeze rates are gradually decreasing, and through dispute mediation and compensation protection mechanisms, users are safeguarded. Additionally, the shielded merchants and bulk trade area under C2C provide users with a certain level of freeze compensation, escorting users' fund security. Since the launch of the shielded merchants three years ago, 70% of users have chosen to transact with the shield. These achievements are attributed to the platform's deep layout in black industry detection, fund chain verification, and merchant onboarding checks.

Within this framework, Binance C2C continues to iterate and has introduced the C2C Strict Selection Zone based on the existing shielded merchants, embedding risk mitigation into the user journey in advance. The selection zone further filters out higher quality shielded merchants from the existing ones, providing users with greater peace of mind. If a user encounters a judicial freeze during fund withdrawal in the Strict Selection Zone, they will receive 100% compensation up to a limit of 50,000 USDT.

Next, this article will delve deeper, taking you on a journey to explore the Binance C2C Strict Selection Zone and unraveling the layers of security fortifications it has built for secure fund withdrawals:

The Nightmare Behind Unsecured C2C, How Users Are Trapped Step by Step

Sophia (pseudonym) is a regular in the cryptocurrency community and has frequently engaged in fiat-crypto transactions with the same over-the-counter merchant. However, a recent ordinary transaction turned into a major setback for her. She saw an advertisement for fiat withdrawals on a third-party social media platform Twitter, posted by an account with the same name as a common merchant on Binance's over-the-counter platform. The offered price was more "attractive" than the platform's listed merchants. Subsequently, she added this "merchant" on Telegram for a private transaction. The "merchant" claimed to offer a higher selling price than the platform's listed price, but Sophia didn't pay much attention. She had previously transacted with this merchant multiple times and thought it was a special offer for a loyal customer. However, after the transaction, her bank account did not receive the funds as expected. When she tried to contact the "merchant," she found that the Telegram account had been deleted.

At this point, Sophia's transactions came to a halt. Not only had she sent her cryptocurrency out, but she had also not received the money. Belatedly, she realized that these "merchants" advertising on other platforms impersonating over-the-counter exchanges had deceived her with higher prices to scam her money. Sophia promptly reached out to Binance's over-the-counter customer support for help. Even though this transaction did not occur on the Binance platform and the scammer was impersonating a Binance merchant, the team, guided by the principle of "user-first," assigned a security officer to assist. They advised Sophia to report the incident to the authorities and encouraged her to gather relevant information and evidence for the police and the bank to pursue the case.

On the other hand, Amy (pseudonym) fell victim to a "piggyback" scam. She met an online romantic interest who claimed to be highly proficient in cryptocurrency trading, a VIP user on the "Binance" platform. He informed her about a VIP-exclusive financial product on "Binance" with an exceptionally attractive annual return, requiring no active participation, just holding funds. As a cryptocurrency novice, Amy trusted her online acquaintance's words unquestionably and agreed to hand over her money for investment in these financial products. However, recently, her acquaintance informed her that "Binance" had frozen the funds during the withdrawal process and requested proof of fund flow for unfreezing. He also asked her to add the "Binance customer service" on WeChat for further communication. During this period, she continuously transferred money to his bank account. Later, the acquaintance claimed that the account had been repeatedly frozen by the platform, preventing the withdrawal of the funds.

Amy felt utterly hopeless and publicly accused "Binance" on social media. Upon seeing her plea for help, the Binance team promptly assigned a specialist to investigate. They discovered that Amy's acquaintance's account was genuine, with no records of freezing, and even recent regular fund transfers. Consequently, they concluded that the user had fallen victim to a "piggyback" scam and advised her to collect evidence and report the incident to the authorities. Even Binance's top management personally intervened to warn the user not to continue transferring money to the acquaintance and not to trust the "Binance customer service" on WeChat. They emphasized that the authentic Binance platform only provides customer support within the platform. Finally, Amy realized the situation, reported the incident to the authorities, and with Binance's cooperation, her acquaintance's account was frozen to help recover her funds.

Due to Binance's leading position in both trading volume and depth, especially with its stringent audit standards for C2C merchants, the introduction of the Shielded Merchant has attracted 70% of user transactions. Therefore, many criminals take advantage of this to impersonate Binance merchants and defraud money. Binance C2C reminds users here not to trust any advertisements on other platforms claiming to be Binance merchants, and that trading with Binance merchants should only be done through the Binance C2C platform.

If users encounter such scams impersonating Binance merchants, they should immediately cease communication and block the contact information to prevent further inducement. If scammed, users can still call Binance C2C customer service at any time for assistance to maximize efforts to help safeguard their assets.

Risk Prevention Moves Forward, Merchant Training Ensures Peace of Mind for Merchants Entering

"When I first applied to become a certified Binance C2C merchant, I almost gave up," David frankly said, as the process of becoming a Binance C2C merchant far exceeded any platform he had previously encountered. He had to upload identification documents and even provide proof of past transaction history. To become a Shielded Merchant, he also needed to pay a substantial deposit. However, it was this "stringency" that ultimately made him firmly choose Binance. "Although the audit process was cumbersome, it made me fully trust Binance's professional standards and protective measures. After all, the stricter the rules, the more high-quality users gather, and the smaller the risks."

Over the years, C2C merchant David has been repeatedly exposed to various scams on other platforms, even involving legal risks. "I remember one time when there was an issue with the buyer's transferred funds. After I completed my part of the transaction, my own bank account was frozen. Not only did I lose thousands of dollars for no reason, but I also had to submit various documents to explain and was called to the police station multiple times, wasting a lot of my time and energy," David recalled with lingering fear. However, since joining Binance C2C, such dramas have disappeared. "Binance's risk control mechanism is indeed very reliable," David marveled. The platform's backend monitors each C2C transaction in real-time, and if there is any abnormality, immediate intervention occurs. "Once, a buyer's remittance was frozen after it was received. I was very scared to encounter the previous issue again. I sought help from the Binance C2C team, and they temporarily froze this transaction for me. Once my frozen payment automatically unfroze, the platform proceeded with the payment for me. I really no longer need to worry about encountering situations where the buyer's funds have issues in the future."

David noticed that Binance's recently launched Strict Selection Zone is even more stringent for merchants. Compared to the previous Shielded Merchants, the Strict Selection Zone requires a 100,000 USDT deposit. This is not only a protection for users but also a restraint for merchants. He said, "Under this mechanism, we merchants will cherish our reputation even more because no merchant would be willing to risk joking with a significant amount like 100,000 USDT."

One of the key factors leading to the freezing of C2C withdrawals is often dependent on whether the funds involved in the user-to-merchant interaction are "clean." If the funds received by users or merchants are related to funds involved in a legal case, law enforcement agencies will notify banks to freeze the funds.

Binance C2C, in line with market pain points, has introduced the "Binance C2C Certified Advertiser Regulations," establishing guidelines and restricted areas for merchants in C2C, including norms for sending and receiving funds, account changes, dispute resolution, and more, providing merchants with clear guidelines. Violators will face escalating penalties from warnings to account suspension or even permanent bans. Additionally, leveraging platform escrow and risk control to safeguard user interests.

Binance C2C's oversight of merchants begins from the application process, starting with a series of stringent account screenings and risk policies. The system first filters out high-risk profiles to ensure that applicants have a clean background. For example, the application threshold requires one-on-one video verification, including identity verification, order completion rate, transaction volume, and other hard metrics. Applicants must also provide a deposit, confirm their familiarity with the platform rules, and abide by them. Newcomers face additional scrutiny to prevent low-quality entities from entering.

Passing through all these obstacles is just the beginning, as it only signifies becoming an ordinary certified merchant. To upgrade to a bulk or shielded merchant, there are even more stringent criteria. Even when approved, merchants remain under continuous risk control scanning and strict supervision. The Binance C2C Risk Control team utilizes multi-source data analysis to build dynamic models, tracking merchants throughout, analyzing real-time behavior patterns, fund fluctuations, and more. By integrating big data and AI technology, risk identification is moved upfront to the transaction preparation stage. The system analyzes transaction habits, fund trajectories, and account histories, accurately pinpointing potential risks and reducing risk exposure at the source.

Binance C2C not only imposes rigorous entry and transaction rule requirements on merchants but also regularly invites well-known legal professionals in the industry to provide legal training and assistance to all merchants, ensuring that merchants understand and abide by the guidelines. "We ordinary merchants have a relatively shallow understanding of the law, and many times we think that operations that seem routine to us may be problematic in the eyes of regulators," shared Alex, a Binance merchant (alias). He admitted, "Binance regularly invites legal professionals in the industry for training, not only educating us on various scenarios and cases of C2C withdrawals in judicial practice but also informing us of which behaviors constitute legal red lines and which are acceptable. This not only helps us avoid risks but also protects the security of users' funds. Binance is indeed very responsible for every merchant and user."

Launch of "C2C Strict Selection Zone," Empowering Shielded Merchants with Comprehensive Upgrade

To further embed risk hedging into the user experience and dispel user concerns about frozen withdrawals, Binance C2C has officially introduced a new "C2C Strict Selection Zone" based on Shielded Merchants. In simple terms, if a user transacts with a merchant from the Binance C2C Strict Selection Zone and encounters a judicial freeze situation, they can receive corresponding fund compensation according to the platform's rules: a maximum compensation ratio of up to 100%, with a single claim limit of up to 50,000 USDT. Additionally, merchants in the Strict Selection Zone must deposit a 100,000 USDT bond. Whether considering the merchant's bond, compensation amount, or compensation limit, the standards have reached the highest level in the industry, fully ensuring that users can receive full compensation from the merchant in the event of a freeze compensation scenario. This underscores Binance's strict requirements for merchant thresholds and its determination and strength in safeguarding user fund security.

The compensation funds provided by Binance C2C are jointly borne by the platform and merchants, not just relying on merchant bonds. This means that an additional layer of insurance has been added to the compensation, ensuring that compensation can still be received even in the most extreme circumstances. This is the "user-first" principle that Binance has always practiced, always considering issues from the user's perspective.

Not only in the Strict Selection Zone but even when transacting with Shielded Merchants, users can now enjoy more comprehensive compensation protection after this upgrade. For amounts up to 1000 USDT, full coverage compensation is available, and for amounts above 1000 USDT, a 10% compensation with a cap of 3000 USDT can be provided. As a result, in Binance C2C, users have a wide variety of compensation-protected merchant options to choose from. In other words, in Binance's C2C trading, over 75% of merchants offer compensation protection, surpassing other platforms in the industry in terms of coverage of compensated merchants.

Furthermore, to facilitate user selection, Binance has separately opened the Strict Selection Zone on the C2C interface. If users want to transact directly with merchants from the Strict Selection Zone, they can simply click on the Strict Selection Zone on the web page or the new version of the app without the need to take an additional step to filter merchants in the list. Even when transacting outside the Strict Selection Zone, users can choose Shielded Merchants by filtering through bulk or custom zones.

Even if a merchant joins the Exclusive Selection Zone, Binance will continue to conduct ongoing monitoring of the merchant. For example, merchants are required to comply with the "Compensation Guarantee" service guidelines and are not allowed to induce transactions through false promises. Once a user complaint is verified to be the responsibility of the merchant, the platform has the right to take measures such as deducting points, imposing fines, freezing accounts, or even canceling compensation eligibility based on the circumstances. For merchants who actively fulfill their compensation obligations and demonstrate outstanding performance, Binance will provide rewards such as traffic tilt and exclusive sorting to encourage them to provide higher-quality services.

Since the launch of the Binance C2C Exclusive Selection Zone, several users have successfully withdrawn funds through the zone. The fact that there have been zero incidents in operation for a month signifies the utmost protection for users. It also reflects the original intention of establishing the Exclusive Selection Zone: not to compensate users for losses but to provide users with a safer, more stable, and reassuring withdrawal experience. A platform with zero incidents in compensation guarantee is stronger than the countless platforms that have experienced incidents in their compensation guarantees.

At the same time, Binance reminds users to continue to comply with platform risk control rules during transactions, such as verifying payment account information and promptly confirming receipt of payment, to avoid unnecessary disputes. In case of suspected fraud or abnormal funds, users should immediately request customer service intervention, and the platform will assist in handling the issue and take strict measures against violating merchants, including compensation.

Risk Control Team Collaboration, Binance C2C Provides a 24/7 Appeals Channel and Locking Mechanism

What if your card is frozen? How can users apply for compensation?

When a user discovers that their account has been frozen, they should first contact the bank to confirm if it is a judicial freeze and the duration of the freeze. If it is indeed a judicial freeze, the user needs to contact customer service to file an appeal and submit relevant documents for platform review. Once the appeal is approved, the merchant must complete the compensation within 30 working days after receiving the notification. If the merchant fails to compensate within the deadline, the platform will directly deduct the compensation from the merchant's security deposit upon receiving the user's complaint. If the merchant's security deposit is forcibly deducted and not replenished within 3 natural days, the platform will suspend their order placement authority until the security deposit is replenished.

How will the platform handle disputes between users and merchants?

When user Alice withdrew funds from a Binance regular merchant C2C, the merchant made the payment but Alice's bank account was frozen. "My first reaction was to contact the other party, but I couldn't reach them at all," Alice recalled. "Even though I had used regular merchants many times before, I was genuinely afraid that I wouldn't get my money back this time." Upon realizing the anomaly, she immediately submitted relevant transaction records and evidence through Binance C2C's appeals channel.

Upon receiving Alice's complaint, Binance C2C's customer service team promptly initiated a review process. Upon review, it was found that the merchant followed the standard operating procedures during the process. The user may actually be subject to either the bank's periodic risk control hold or a temporary judicial hold scenario. Therefore, the user was advised to remain calm and seek clarification by communicating with the bank or local authorities to understand the specific situation.

During this period, the customer service team provided feedback to the risk control department for a thorough analysis of the transaction. Through comprehensive monitoring of the chat history between the merchant and the user, as well as a review of all past transaction records and behaviors, it was ultimately found that the merchant did not engage in any abnormal behavior during this transaction. However, after the incident, neither the user nor the platform could contact the merchant. Leveraging its escrow service mechanism, Binance C2C promptly locked and froze the funds to ensure that the user's trading rights were not compromised. At the same time, Binance C2C arranged for a security officer to follow up with the user, guide the user in filing a police report, and collect relevant information such as bank statements for future submission to the bank and authorities.

Recently, user Rachel registered on the platform and placed an order to purchase USDT. During a transaction with a third-party advertiser, the advertiser keenly observed unusual user behavior and promptly reported the situation to the platform. Upon receiving the alert, the platform immediately activated its risk control mechanism, conducting a comprehensive investigation into Xiao Guo's account and discovering a significant risk in the withdrawal address. To prevent further losses, the platform promptly froze the related assets as a temporary measure.

Subsequently, with the professional intervention and guidance of local law enforcement, Rachel gradually realized that she had fallen victim to a "Ponzi scheme" scam. She then actively communicated with the platform seeking assistance. Finally, with the platform and advertiser working together, the relevant transaction was smoothly refunded and coins returned, helping Rachel successfully recover her lost funds.

This incident not only demonstrated the effectiveness of the platform's risk control system and the advertiser's keen risk awareness but also embodied the platform's service principle of "user first, safety paramount." In the future, the platform will continue to optimize its risk control mechanisms, collaborate with advertisers, users, and regulatory forces to jointly create a more secure and trustworthy trading environment.

The Binance C2C team stated: "We always prioritize user rights, not only making every effort to safeguard user security but also taking punitive actions against violative merchants. Even if users have not engaged in transactions with merchants in the Strict Selection Zone or Regular Zone that have compensation mechanisms, we will similarly address customer complaints regarding withdrawal disputes."

Binance C2C has been continuously strengthening and improving its risk control system. On one hand, by implementing stringent entry criteria to vet merchants who allow user withdrawals as the first step, monitoring all merchant chat and transaction behaviors comprehensively; on the other hand, Binance C2C actively encourages users to report suspicious activities and provides rewards to incentivize participation. Additionally, Binance C2C itself provides risk warnings for ordinary merchants on the platform with lower trading volumes, clearly indicating them to users for heightened visibility. Moreover, regular safety education and legal awareness initiatives are conducted to enhance user risk prevention awareness while continually educating merchants on the law to make them aware of the legal boundaries that cannot be crossed.

Around-the-Clock Service Team and Derivative Product Support

The Binance C2C business team is large, with a team of over a hundred covering customer service, product, risk control, and other teams, providing around-the-clock service to users from start to finish. Since its launch, it has gradually expanded from the exchange's digital asset trading service to a more comprehensive product. With the diversification of market demands, Binance C2C support includes stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, as well as support for mainstream currencies such as BTC, ETH, and BNB. The C2C method can also be directly used to purchase currently popular alpha tokens, fully participating in the ecosystem built by Binance and its wallet. In addition, a variety of payment methods have increased user flexibility, currently supporting bank transfers, credit cards, and other common payment methods.

The current world's financial landscape is undergoing changes, with digital assets increasingly participating in people's daily lives as countries and institutions enter the scene. Binance has always upheld the ideals of global compliance and user-first, providing secure, compliant, and stable digital asset services through continuous upgrades and improvements to its internal system mechanisms. Binance C2C continues this philosophy by building a win-win ecosystem through a well-rounded protection mechanism and strict standards, while ensuring the safety and experience of merchants and users.

This article is contributed content and does not represent the views of BlockBeats.

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