Binance Introduces Withdrawal Lock Feature Amid Rising Physical Threats

Binance has introduced a new security feature called Withdraw Protection to help users protect their funds from in-person pressure or coercion. The feature allows users to freeze withdrawals for between one and seven days, with an option to cancel the freeze early under certain conditions.

The mechanism is an internal policy, not a cryptographic lock, which means that Binance customer service agents cannot override it during the lockdown window. According to Jimmy Su, Chief Security Officer at Binance, the feature was built in response to observed withdrawal patterns on the platform, including cases identified as potentially coerced.

Su noted that users traveling to regions where being identified as a crypto holder carries physical risk were a primary use case for the tool. He also flagged trading bots as a related concern, advising users to treat API keys with the same level of protection as passwords or two-factor authentication codes.