US Regulator Sues Crypto Giant for Embezzlement

First modification: 06/06/2023 – 03:01

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the exchange of cryptocurrencies Binance for violating with their operations all various legal regulations of the United States.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, claims the digital company embezzled funds from its users and lied to investors and regulators. In all, the SEC filed 13 charges, accusing them of making billions of dollars in exchange for putting their clients’ assets at “significant risk.”

“Zhao and the entities of Binance They were not only aware of the rules, but they consciously chose to evade them and put their customers and investors at risk, all in an attempt to maximize their own profits,” said Gary Gensler, chairman of the US regulator.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Binance is a Cayman Islands limited liability company founded by Zhao and the charges are familiar to allegations facing another crypto asset platform, FTXthe second largest cryptocurrency exchange that crashed last year.

According to Gensler, Zhao and Binance “engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflict of interest, non-disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law.” “The public should be careful about investing any of their hard-earned assets with or in these illegal platforms,” ​​Gensler said.

Binance denied the accusations: “While we take the SEC’s allegations seriously, they should not be the subject of SEC enforcement action, let alone on an urgent basis. We intend to vigorously defend our platform,” the company tweeted. company.

“Unfortunately, the SEC’s refusal to productively engage with us is just another example of the Commission’s misguided and knowing refusal to provide much-needed clarity and guidance to the digital asset industry,” they added.

Last December, the US Attorney’s Office and the SEC indicted the founder of FTXSam Bankman-Fried, on various charges, including money laundering, fraud and securities fraud.

“The SEC’s new complaint against Binance it is a laundry list of charges that expose the exact same claims that many in the Bitcoin and crypto communities have made against Changpeng Zhao and his companies for many years. These practices of Binance have essentially been open secrets, so no one operating in space is going to be surprised by any of the charges,” said Cory Klippsten, CEO of swan bitcoina bitcoin financial services company.

after the news, Binance Coin lost almost 9%, as well as bitcoin and ethereum, which were between 3% and 4% in losses.

With AP and EFE