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☆ U.S. Case Details Binance’s Knowledge About Criminal Users
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Emily Flitter | More About Emily Flitter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For years, the Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and other senior employees at the cryptocurrency exchange knew that some of its users were criminals. Yet, despite regular warnings from some of its own employees that some transactions on Binance.com were violating anti-money-laundering laws, the firm was reluctant to cut them off. Those allegations, which were made public on Tuesday in a sweeping federal case against Binance and Mr. Zhao, show how thoroughly he and his deputies understood that criminals were using their trading platform — and how little they did to stop them. Mr. Zhao and Binance pleaded guilty on Tuesday to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to pay hefty fines. The Binance official acknowledged the report, then tried to persuade the tech company’s representatives to downplay Binance’s role in the transactions, according to the filing, which FinCEN posted on its website on Tuesday.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Binance, FinCEN Organizations: Binance, Network, Treasury Department, FinCEN, Qassam

Just this week, the SEC sued Kraken, another crypto exchange, alleging that it is operating as an unregistered securities exchange. Binance is exiting the US as part of the agreement the crypto exchange made with law enforcement agencies. That also includes the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , and the Treasury Department. There is even a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team within the Justice Department actively identifying and investigating criminal cases involving digital assets. That is precisely how the feds secured the first ever corporate settlement with a crypto exchange.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Zhao, Binance, Brian Armstrong, Coinbase, ” Armstrong, “, General Merrick Garland, ” Changpeng Zhao, Anthony Kwan, cryptocurrencies, ethereum, Bitcoin, ’, it’s, Ethereum, Treasury Department —, Kraken, Tiffany Hagler, ” Garland, Lisa Monaco, Tuesday’s presser, “ I’ve, Benham Organizations: New, New York CNN, Justice Department, Bloomberg, Getty, Washington DC, US Department of Justice, Department of Justice, Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission, Treasury Department, SEC, Geard, Futures Trading Commission, Cryptocurrency, feds Locations: New York, United States, Binance, Washington, U.S, “, rulemaking

☆ Binance warned VIP customers about law enforcement investigations, Treasury says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Binance's VIP users were granted a set of special privileges, including an early heads-up from the crypto exchange if they were under investigation by law enforcement, according to the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Treasury alleged in a 92-page order that Binance had "developed a process to notify VIP users if they became the subject of a law enforcement inquiry," in a setup where Binance was effectively serving as a lookout for its top-tier customers. Members of Binance's VIP team were instructed to contact the user under investigation by "all available means" including sending texts and calling to inform customers, for example, that their account had been frozen or unfrozen. According to the consent order, Binance's VIP team staff were warned not to be too obvious in their tips. They will be managed by your [VIP] team.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, FinCEN, Binance's, — CNBC's Christina Wilkie Organizations: Treasury's, Treasury, . Enterprise Locations: U.S, United States

☆ What US charges does crypto exchange Binance face?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks at a Binance fifth anniversary event in Paris, France, July 8, 2022. The agreement will resolve criminal charges that Binance conducted an unlicensed money transmitter business, conspiracy and breaching sanctions regulations, the U.S. Department of Justice said. UNLICENSED MONEY SERVICE BUSINESSThe U.S. said that Binance, Zhao and other executives "knowingly and willfully conspired" to operate as an unlicensed money services business (MSB) from August 2017 until October 2022. MONEY LAUNDERING CHECKSThe U.S. said that Binance facilitated "billions of dollars" of crypto transactions for its customers, including in the United States, without implementing so-called "know your customer" checks. From around January 2018 to May 2022, Binance processed 1.1 million crypto transactions worth at least $898.6 million between U.S. customers and those who lived in Iran, the U.S. said.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, ZHAO, Tom Wilson, Binance, Zhao, laundered, Crypto, Elizabeth Howcroft, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: ZHAO REUTERS, U.S . Department of Justice, Reuters, Binance, U.S, Treasury's, Palestinian, Hamas, Islamic, Palestine Islamic, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, U.S, United States, Russian, Iran, Islamic State, al Qaeda, Palestine, London

Customers from Iran, Cuba and Syria — all of which face sanctions — were able to access the Binance platform. In addition to the outlawed foreign transactions, Binance did business with firms based in the United States even though it was not supposed to have any U.S. customers on its Binance.com platform. Instead, a different platform, Binance.US, which Mr. Zhao also owned, was required to handle the business and abide by U.S. anti-money laundering laws. But Mr. Zhao and other Binance employees believed it would be better for the main cryptocurrency exchange to handle big U.S. customers, the court filings state. At times, Binance has processed two-thirds of all digital currency trades, making it a vital power broker and intermediary in the crypto world.

Persons: Zhao, Binance, —, ” Locations: Iran, Cuba, Syria, United States

☆ Binance did monthly transactions worth $90 bln in banned China market - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Binance logo is seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoAug 2 (Reuters) - Binance users traded cryptocurrency-related assets worth $90 billion in a single month in China, where such trading has been illegal since 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing internal figures, and current and former employees of the exchange. Binance's origins lie in China, though the world's largest crypto exchange withdrew from mainland China in 2017 during a regulatory crackdown. The exchange is also under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department over possible money-laundering and sanctions violations, Reuters had reported in December. Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Juby Babu, Nivedita Bhattacharjee Organizations: REUTERS, Wall Street Journal, China Binance's, Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, CFTC, U.S . Justice Department, Reuters, Thomson Locations: China, Bengaluru

☆ Binance.US tells customers to withdraw their cash from the exchange as the SEC pursues its 'ideological' attack on the crypto industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Binance.US urged its customers to withdraw cash from the crypto exchange in a recent notice. The moves are part of an "ideological campaign" against the US crypto industry, Binance said. After June 13, Binance.US will become a crypto-only platform until it can find "more stable" banking partners, it said. "The SEC has taken to using extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics in its pursuit of an ideological campaign against the American digital asset industry. Binance is facing 13 charges from the SEC, after being scrutinized by regulators for months over its compliance with US securities laws.

Persons: Binance.US, Binance, — Organizations: Service, Securities and Exchange, SEC Locations: American

In its 13 charges, the SEC alleged that Binance and Zhao used Merit Peak and Sigma Chain, another trading firm controlled by Zhao, to commingle corporate funds with client assets and use the monies "as they please." This put customers' assets at risk while Binance sought to "maximize" its profits, the SEC wrote in its civil complaint on Monday. "All user assets on Binance and Binance affiliate platforms, including Binance.US, are safe and secure," it said in a statement on Monday. The funds received by British Virgin Islands-based Merit Peak between 2019 and 2021 flowed from Key Vision Development Ltd, also controlled by Zhao, the SEC filing on Tuesday showed. Reuters reported last month that Key Vision and Merit Peak, along with Binance's Cayman Islands holding company, formed the core of the global crypto exchange's financial network.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Zhao, Guangying Chen, Chen, Tom Wilson, Jane Merriman Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Sigma, British, Vision Development, Key Vision, U.S, Reuters, Vision, Binance's, Sigma Chain's, BAM, Thomson Locations: Seychelles, British Virgin Islands, Islands, Binance, United States, U.S, Singapore

The exchange offers spot and derivatives trading and a host of services from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to crypto loans and asset management. FINANCESBinance's global trading platform, Binance.com, is by far the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Last year it processed crypto trades worth about $65 billion a day, Binance said, dominating the crypto trading landscape with more than half of the market, CryptoCompare data shows. Binance last year extended its reach beyond the crypto sector in 2022, investing $500 million in Tesla boss Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. A top Binance executive told the Wall Street Journal in February that the company expected to pay penalties to resolve U.S. investigations.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Zhao, Yi He, Yi, Noah Perlman, Morgan Stanley, Richard Teng, Teng, Elon Musk's, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Wilson, Hannah Lang, Marguerita Choy, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Binance, Reuters, Twitter, Lazio, Argentina national, of Nations, U.S, Justice, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Shanghai, Tokyo, Malta, Cayman Islands, Canadian, China, United States, Italian, London, Washington

After receiving $145 million from Binance.US's operator by 2021, Sigma Chain spent $11 million on buying a yacht, the SEC complaint said, without elaborating. It is unclear from the SEC complaint how much money Zhao is alleged to have drawn from Merit Peak and Sigma Chain. The SEC also said Zhao used Merit Peak to direct more than $16 million to fund Binance's purportedly independent U.S. affiliate Binance.US. Binance used its BUSD holdings to meet customer withdrawals by selling them for dollars as needed, Reuters reported in May. The SEC complaint also identified Binance Labs, a venture capital arm of Binance, as part of the exchange's plan to increase demand for BNB.

Persons: Zhao, Binance, Benoit Tessier LONDON, Changpeng Zhao, John Reed Stark, Stark, Binance's, Angus Berwick, Tom Wilson, Lisa Barrington, Hadeel Al, Elisa Martinuzzi, Alexander Smith Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Binance, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Swiss, Sigma Chain, Reuters, Silicon, Internet, Futures Trading Commission, U.S . Justice, Reuters Graphics, Silvergate Bank, Merit, Sigma, Binance Labs, Thomson Locations: Porte, Paris, France, Binance, U.S, Virgin Islands, Dubai, London, Hadeel Al Sayegh

June 5 (Reuters) - The world's largest crypto exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao operated a "web of deception" that included artificially inflating its trading volumes and diverting customer assets, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged on Monday. The agency on Monday sued Binance and Zhao for failing to restrict U.S. customers from its platform and misleading investors about its market surveillance controls, as well as for operating an unregistered securities exchange. "We allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. The world's biggest crypto exchange, Binance was founded in Shanghai in 2017 by CEO Changpeng Zhao, a Canadian citizen born and raised until the age of 12 in China. Binance's global trading platform, Binance.com dominates the crypto trading landscape, last year processing trades worth about $65 billion a day with up to 70% of the market.

Persons: Zhao, Binance, ”, Gary Gensler, BNB, Changpeng Zhao, Jonathan Stempel, Hannah Lang, Tom Wilson, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Washington , D.C, SEC, Sigma, Binance, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Justice, Reuters, Silvergate, Thomson Locations: Washington ,, Shanghai, Canadian, China, Cayman Islands, Silvergate Bank, New York, Washington, London

The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, of mishandling customer funds as well as lying to regulators and investors about its operations in a sweeping case filed in federal court on Monday. The Wall Street regulator said Binance had been mixing billions of dollars in customer funds and secretly sending them to a separate company called Merit Peak Limited, which is controlled by Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao. The charges included misleading investors about the adequacy of its systems to detect and control manipulative trading and about its efforts to restrict U.S. investors from trading on its unregulated platform. In its court filing, the S.E.C. cited a 2018 email from Binance’s chief compliance officer saying “we do not want [Binance.com] to be regulated ever.”

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao “, ” Organizations: Securities, Exchange, Binance’s, Regulators, Court Locations: Washington

☆ SEC sues Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao for U.S. securities violations
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Binance's ultimate compliance, in 2019, was largely a public show, the SEC complaint continues. The SEC alleged that Binance and Zhao violated "critical" provisions of federal security laws, including self-dealing and market manipulation, through Merit Peak Limited and Sigma Chain, both of which Zhao controlled and owned. Merit Peak, a British Virgin Islands-based company, was one of the "earliest market makers" on Binance's U.S. platform, the SEC alleged. "We will issue a response once we see the complaint," Zhao said on Twitter. The defendants showed a "blatant disregard" of federal law, the SEC alleged.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Binance, Binance.US Organizations: Securities, Exchange, Binance, SEC, CNBC, Limited, Sigma Chain, Merit, Binance's U.S, Twitter, Media Locations: European, The U.S, USA, U.S, VPNs, Binance.com, British Virgin Islands, Binance's

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationJune 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday accused the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, and its founder Changpeng Zhao, of operating an "elaborate scheme to evade U.S. federal securities laws." The SEC charged Binance and Zhao with 13 offences, including operating an unregistered securities exchange and failing to restrict U.S. customers from its platform. "Any allegations that user assets on the Binance.US platform have ever been at risk are simply wrong," Binance said. Merit Peak and Sigma Chain were used to transfer tens of billions of dollars involving Binance, Binance.US and other related entities, the SEC said. Zhao instructed Binance.US to onboard Sigma Chain and Merit Peak as market makers on the Binance.US platform, the SEC said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Binance, Binance.US, Chain’s, Angus Berwick, Michelle Price, Nick Zieminski Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Peak's, Reuters, Silvergate Bank, Sigma, BUSINESS Zhao, BAM, Sigma Chain, U.S, Thomson Locations: U.S, Switzerland, Binance.US, Shanghai, Cayman Islands

☆ The SEC is going after Binance, and there's one quote from the complaint that's going to be legendary
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The SEC is accusing Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao of violating securities laws. The SEC complaint is a doozy. Binance's CCO is quoted as saying: 'We are operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.' The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday filed a complaint against the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The summary opens:This case arises from Defendants' blatant disregard of the federal securities laws and the investor and market protections these laws provide.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, CCO, Matt Levine, I'm, Zhao, Binance's CCO, Joe Weisenthal Organizations: SEC, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Twitter, Bloomberg Locations: USA

Reuters could not determine Coley's status in the government investigations or whether she had cooperated. While he was its director of enforcement, the CFTC increasingly worked on investigations in parallel with federal prosecutors. McDonald's representation of Coley comes as the U.S. investigations pile pressure on Binance, which dominates the crypto sector as the world's largest digital currency exchange. The CFTC's complaint said that Binance personnel, including Zhao, have "dictated Binance.US's corporate strategy, launch, and early operations." In a subpoena addressed to Coley that same month, the SEC also requested all records of her activities and meetings.

☆ Binance boss CZ shows what he thinks of the trading violations lawsuit with an enigmatic tweet: '4'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Binance boss Changpeng Zhao "CZ" Photo by Pedro Fiúza/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesBinance boss CZ showed what he thinks of trading violations lawsuit with an enigmatic tweet: "4"He was referring to one of his four principles: "Ignore FUD, fake news, attacks, etc." CZ said he eats his company's "dog food" by storing his personal crypto on his exchange. Binance boss Changpeng Zhao showed what he thinks of the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) lawsuit against him and the exchange with a cryptic, enigmatic tweet of the number "4." I eat our own dog food and store my crypto on Binance.com," he said. In other words, if a company's dog food is as high quality as advertised, it should be good enough for its employees to eat.

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Binance founder Changpeng Zhao could never be accused of thinking small. The 46-year-old CEO didn't waver in his belief as he built up his crypto exchange. Binance and Zhao did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Binance became the world's biggest crypto exchange within six months, and now accounts for about 60% of global crypto trading volumes, according to research firm CryptoCompare. While Binance has hired widely from the traditional financial and regulatory worlds in recent years, Zhao's tight control over his company has continued.

☆ Binance 'could be in big trouble' as the CFTC lawsuit alleges the crypto behemoth dodged regulators and breached laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Binance is being blow-torched from all angles as US regulators close in on the world's largest crypto exchange. The CFTC sued the exchange this week for violating US financial laws, whilst some reports suggest Binance has engaged in secret fund transfers. On Monday, the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and Zhao himself, for allegedly breaching US financial laws. Following the shocking implosion of Sam-Bankman Fried's FTX exchange late last year, concerns have risen whether Binance faces similar risks. If US authorities decide the links meant the crypto exchange had control over the US platform, it could expose the company to enforcement action.

The CFTC sued Binance, Zhao and its former top compliance executive with "willful evasion" of U.S. law, "while engaging in a calculated strategy of regulatory arbitrage to their commercial benefit." "Upon an initial review, the complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts, and we do not agree with the characterization of many of the issues alleged in the complaint," Zhao said in a statement. Firms such as brokers that facilitate U.S. customers' trading of such products are required to register with the agency. 'PIRATE SHIP'Founded in Shanghai in 2017, Binance sits at the heart of the global crypto industry. With a holding company based in the Cayman Islands, Binance has never revealed the location of its core exchange.

☆ Judge halts Voyager Digital's $1.3 bln sale to Binance.US
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 27 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday temporarily stopped bankrupt Voyager Digital (VYGVQ.PK) from completing a proposed $1.3 billion sale to crypto exchange Binance.US, allowing the U.S. government more time to pursue appeals that challenge the legality of the deal. Trustee, the Department of Justice's (DOJ) bankruptcy watchdog, filed appeals in early March over a bankruptcy court's approval of the sale. Binance.US has agreed to pay $20 million in cash to Voyager, and take on crypto assets deposited by Voyager customers. Those assets, valued at $1.3 billion in February, account for the bulk of the deal's valuation, according to Voyager. Binance.US maintains publicly that it is entirely independent of Binance.com, operating as the "U.S. partner" to the world's biggest crypto exchange.

March 27 (Reuters) - Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance and executives, including CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao, have been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for regulatory violations, according to a court filing on Monday. Binance's compliance program has been "ineffective" and the firm, under the direction of Zhao, told employees and customers to go around compliance controls, the CFTC said. It also accused Binance's former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim of aiding and abetting Binance's violations. "For years, Binance knew they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance. Its core Binance.com exchange, the world's biggest, processed trades worth about $23 trillion last year, according to data provider CryptoCompare.

☆ Factbox: Binance, world's top crypto exchange, at the center of US investigations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Tom Wilson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao have been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over regulatory violations, according to a court filing on Monday. The exchange offers spot and derivatives trading and a host of services from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to crypto loans and asset management. FINANCESBinance's global trading platform, Binance.com, is by far the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Last year it processed crypto trades worth about $65 billion a day, Binance said, dominating the crypto trading landscape with more than half of the market, CryptoCompare data shows. Binance last year extended its reach beyond the crypto sector in 2022, investing $500 million in Tesla boss Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter.

☆ Crypto is banned in China, but Binance employees and support volunteers tell people how to bypass the ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

The messages CNBC reviewed come from accounts identified as Binance employees or Binance-trained volunteers known as "Angels." Whatever the method, Binance's Chinese users take on a significant risk: In China, crypto exchanges have been outlawed since 2017, while crypto itself was outlawed in 2021. But Chinese customers have continued to seek ways to trade on Binance, which include using instructions provided by employees and volunteers. "'Binance does not offer a 'Binance Chinese Android app," a spokesperson said. In addition, hours after Binance responded to CNBC, messages apeared on Twitter suggesting that some customers' Binance debit cards had been frozen.

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Binance is halting its sterling deposits and withdrawals, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday, a month after the world's largest crypto exchange ceased dollar transfers. Binance has been informed by its partner for sterling transfers, Paysafe, that it would halt its services from May 22, the spokesperson said, impacting all Binance customers. Sterling transfers for new users were stopped on Monday, it said. The company is working to find an "alternative solution" for sterling transfers, the spokesperson said. The cessation of sterling transfers, first reported by crypto news outlet The Block, is the latest obstacle for Binance in accessing traditional currencies.

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