Barbados Times

Barbados, Caribbean & World News
Friday, Jun 09, 2023

Binance accused of breaking US financial laws

Binance accused of breaking US financial laws

US regulators are seeking to ban Binance, the world's largest crypto trading platform, alleging that the firm has been operating in the country illegally.
The lawsuit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said the firm cultivated US business while failing to register properly with authorities.

It accused Binance of breaking numerous US financial laws, including rules intended to thwart money laundering.

Binance defended its practices.

It said it had made "significant investments" to ensure that US users were not active on the platform, including blocking users identified as American citizens or residents, or who had a US mobile number.

"This filing is unexpected and disappointing as we have been working collaboratively with the CFTC for more than two years. Nevertheless, we intend to continue to collaborate with regulators in the US and around the world," the firm said.

"The best path forward is to protect our users and to collaborate with regulators to develop a clear, thoughtful regulatory regime."

Founded in 2017, the company is now the world's largest centralised exchange for digital assets, claiming more than 100 million users globally. It is led by Chinese-born Canadian billionaire Changpeng Zhao, who was also named in the complaint.

The CFTC said Binance had been active in the US since 2019, but never properly registered with the government or complied with relevant US laws, using an "intentionally opaque" global corporate structure in a bid to escape oversight.

For much of that time, Binance did not not require its customers to provide any identity-verifying information before trading on the platform, the CFTC alleged in the civil lawsuit, filed in federal court in Illinois.

In 2021, the firm announced it was tightening its rules. But at the same time, the CFTC said it advised US-based customers on how to evade those controls using virtual private networks (VPNs) and shell companies.

The firm evaded the rules "to maximize corporate profits," the CFTC said.

It asked the US court for restitution and fines, as well as permanent trading and registration bans.

CFTC chairman Rostin Behnam said the government filed the case to protect American investors and it should serve as a wider warning to those working in the crypto sector.

"For years, Binance knew they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance. This should be a warning that the CFTC will not tolerate wilful avoidance of US law," he said.

Around the time the lawsuit was announced, Mr Zhao posted on Twitter a message that read "4" - apparently referring followers back to advice in an earlier post urging people to "ignore .... fake news, attacks, etc."

After several years of explosive growth, the crypto industry has been struggling with a sharp decline in prices, as well as increased scrutiny from regulators.

Last year, US officials warned the industry that they planned to use existing laws to more rigorously enforce against issues such as conflicts of interest and lack of transparency.

In October, the CFTC said more than 20% of the cases it had pursued in the 12 months prior concerned the sector, including cases against Bitfinex and Tether. It is also among the agencies in the US that has brought fraud charges against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX, previously a major rival to Binance.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Comments

Oh ya 71 days ago
In short the government is saying we want CBDC and no free competition as we enslave the stupid general population who sign up for this

Newsletter

Related Articles

Barbados Times
Close
0:00
0:00
US and European Intelligence Agencies Uncover Evidence of Ukrainian Role in Terror Attack on Nord Stream Pipeline
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
If you donated to BLM, you got played
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
Actor Tom Hanks told Harvard University graduates to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Last Walmart in North Portland Closing Down
Florida's DeSantis seeks to disqualify judge in Disney case
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines calls the British monarchy "an absurdity" he wants to remove in his lifetime
King Charles III being crowned.
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
Ukraine More Prepared for Counterattack as Reinforcements Arrive
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Discuss Migration, Defence, and Ukraine
AT&T's Successful Test of Satellite-Based Phone Call Raises Possibility of Widespread Coverage
CNN: "Joe Biden is asking for four more years — when 74% of Americans think the country is heading the wrong way“
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Cuts Short Live TV Interview Due to Health Issue
US Congresswoman threaten Twitter Files journalist with arrest
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh slams New York Times' pro-government stance and treatment of sources
Enough is enough: it's time to end the war in Ukraine. While Russia may be to blame for starting it, Russia is not the one refusing to stop it
Fox News Settles their case with Dominion Voting Systems for a staggering $787.5 MILLION
AG decries scapegoating and rushed lawmaking by government
The land of the free violence
×