By the way, the recent introduction of mandatory strict KYC on the Binance exchange immediately reduced the number of its users by at least half, although their CEO CZ does not publicly admit this. But that's exactly how it is.
I don't know about that. Binance is still listed in CMC as the number one exchange for BTC trading and there are several pairs associated with it which is why I have a tough time believing that at least half of their users left.
Personally, I submitted my full KYC there because I trust them though I preferred Localbitcoins to it, but they shut shop recently.
When Binance first started out as a cryptocurrency exchange about 7 years ago, you could trade safely while remaining anonymous.
KYC verification was not necessary if you complied with the withdrawal limit of a certain amount. Not a very large amount, of course, but not so much that it seems small. I don’t remember now what the daily withdrawal limit was, but it was thousands of dollars, that is, it was normal. After all, maintaining anonymity is important for many people.
But gradually the requirements became stricter, as I understand in this matter everything is guided by the decisions made by the financial authorities of the USA. And these authorities gradually made the conditions for the free exchange of cryptocurrencies more and more difficult and demanding. As a result, KYC has now been implemented everywhere and I don’t know whether in the future there will be at least some anonymity of payments or all this will be destroyed. And I think this is wrong.