CANTV, a Venezuelan state-owned ISP, has reportedly started blocking traffic to Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The company, which controls a significant portion of the Venezuelan broadband market, has left thousands of Venezuelans without access to their savings and even P2P markets, which are popular among those using crypto as a savings tool.
Venezuelan Government Blocks Binance, Cutting P2P Market Access for Thousands
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Venezuelan Government Cuts Access to Binance Users Connecting Through State-Owned ISP
The censorship actions of the Venezuelan government have reached the cryptocurrency sector. According to local media, state-owned telecom and internet service provider (ISP) CANTV has blocked access to Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The measure, potentially affecting thousands, has been taken as part of a series of blocks implemented against other services, applying similar actions against Mercado Libre, Signal, Reddit, and others like X.
However, the action against X is wider, given that it also includes other major ISPs in the country, giving it a larger scope.
The situation was acknowledged by Binance, which stated in an email sent to its Venezuelan customers that “like several websites of companies from different segments in Venezuela, including social networks, Binance pages have been facing access restrictions.”
Binance declared that its team monitored the situation to address it quickly and effectively. Nonetheless, it did not indicate if it would allow Venezuelans to use virtual private networks (VPN) to circumvent this issue without flagging them.
Binance concluded:
We want to assure you that your funds are SAFU under our robust security protocols.
The measure has the potential of leaving all of CANTV’s subscribers without having access to peer-to-peer markets, given how Binance handles these connections. While there are no official reports indicating trading volumes, Binance is arguably the most popular crypto-based peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange in Venezuela. There has not been any announcement by the Venezuelan government acknowledging this action, or when this situation might get resolved.
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