The Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to block access to the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance. This comes as the former chief last week stepped down and pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money laundering laws.

We are yet to see the list of countries that will follow the trails of the USA in the crypto matter.

The SEC accused the operator of Binance, saying it was illegal, because it was not a registered corporation in the Philippines, and was operating without the necessary licence and authority to sell or offer any form of securities.

The removal of access in the Philippines, the SEC said in a statement, will take effect within three months of the issuance of its advisory on Nov. 28 to give Filipino users time to pull out investments from the crypto exchange.

It has asked Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) and Facebook parent Meta to ban online advertisements from Binance in the Philippines, and warned those selling via or convincing people to invest in the platform they may be held criminally liable.

Former Binance chief Changpeng Zhao stepped down as CEO last week after pleading guilty to willfully causing the exchange to fail to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

– Reuters