The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance Holdings Ltd., as well as its Chief Executive Officer, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, alleging that they violated regulations pertaining to trading and derivatives. The case was submitted by the CFTC to the federal court in Chicago on Monday.
Binance Faces Legal Hurdles In U.S.
According to the court documents, the CFTC alleges that a significant portion of Binance’s reported trading volume, as well as its profitability, has come from the company’s extensive solicitation of and access to customers located in the United States who engage in a variety of digital asset spot and derivative transactions involving commodities that are traded in interstate commerce on the Binance platform.
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The financial watchdog further accuses that the Binance exchange has never registered with the CFTC in any capacity and has disregarded federal laws that are essential to the integrity and vitality of U.S. financial markets. These laws include laws that require the implementation of controls designed to prevent and detect money laundering and terrorism.
CFTC Alleges Deliberate Avoidance
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The CFTC accuses Zhao, along with other members of Binance’s senior management, of failing to properly supervise Binance’s activities and, in fact, of actively facilitating violations of United States law. This includes “assisting and instructing customers located in the United States” to evade the compliance controls that Binance falsely claimed to implement in order to prevent and detect violations of United States law.
While speaking about assisting users in the country to evade violations, the CFTC was quoted as saying:
Moreover, the regulatory body has requested the court to impose civil monetary penalties on Binance and related parties — as well as remedial ancillary relief — which may include but is not limited to “trading and registration bans, disgorgement, pre and post-judgment interest”, and any other relief that the court deems necessary and appropriate.
As a result of the news, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has decreased by around $1,000 and is currently trading at $26,800, whereas Binance’s native cryptocurrency, BNB, witnessed a drop of roughly 5% in the past one hour at the time of writing.
