Crypto prices suffer as SEC sues Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao (update)

IgorIgorevich

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued cryptocurrency exchange Binance Holdings and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly violating U.S. securities regulations, according to a filing dated Monday.

The move further roiled crypto prices, with bitcoin (BTC-USD) down 2.6% to $26.48K and binance coin (BNB-USD) off 6.6% to $286.29 as of shortly before 12:00 p.m. ET. Ethereum (ETH-USD) also extended losses to new intraday lows, retreating 2.4% to $1.85K.

The Wall Street regulator alleged that Binance mishandled customer funds and secretly sent them to a separate entity controlled by Zhao. 13 charges were filed against Binance and CZ, as he is known, including deceiving investors about the sufficiency of its systems to detect and control manipulative trading.

The SEC also accused the platform of taking insufficient steps to prohibit U.S. investors from accessing its unregulated exchange.

“As alleged, Zhao and Binance misled investors about their risk controls and corrupted trading volumes while actively concealing who was operating the platform, the manipulative trading of its affiliated market maker, and even where and with whom investor funds and crypto assets were custodied," said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

"They attempted to evade U.S. securities laws by announcing sham controls that they disregarded behind the scenes so that they could keep high-value U.S. customers on their platforms," he added.

The company is "disappointed" with the SEC suit, a Binance spokesperson told Seeking Alpha via email, adding "we will vigorously defend our business and the industry. We respectfully disagree with the SEC’s allegations that Binance operated as an unregistered securities exchange or illegally offered and sold securities, including by offering BNB (BNB-USD), or the BUSD (BUSD-USD) fiat-backed stable coin." (Added at 2:45 p.m. ET)

This marks the second high-profile suit against Binance and Zhao since the end of March, when the Commodity and Futures Trade Commission accused the platform of breaching certain trading and derivatives rules.

In 2019 and 2020, Binance controlled five bank accounts belonging to its independent U.S. affiliate, Binance.US, including one that held U.S. customers' money, Reuters reported, citing bank records. That's a cause for concern as Binance does not have authority to operate in the U.S.

More on the Crypto Market

• Bitcoin: Liquidity Suggests A Price Drop Is Coming

• Binance: Could CFTC Lead To Bigger Problems?

• Crypto giant Binance said to lay off non-performers as market share wanes

• Binance commingled customer funds with its revenue in 2020, 2021 - report

• Binance to exit Canada due to stiffer rules on stablecoins, crypto exchanges

Comments

[Djreef1966]

The SEC is moving to freeze assets.

[Blowback2]

Sec has decided to call 'Ponzi' by the 'P' word....

[Moomoo22u2]

You can’t have it both ways. When people get ripped off because their coins were lent to unsavory characters they complain for regulation. Now the regulators are coming fast and these same people are complaining yet again.

[Long-Short Manager]

Like they said about democracy - the worst form of government apart from the alternatives- we're coming to realize that maybe the USD is the worst currency apart from the alternatives. Fixed/limited supply isn't the most important attribute - it's also true of Egyptian pyramids and Bentleys. It's looking as hard to keep crypto safe or buy real stuff with it as with Bentleys.

[GreyhoundAM]

Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum are specifically named as commodities in this lawsuit. They are therefore not in Genslers purview and this is bullish! Screw Binance, BTC does not = Binance. The spot market will move elsewhere

[hamayhah]

@GreyhoundAM No, the SEC does not name those 3 as commodities in the lawsuit. You might want to download the pdf and check for yourself.

[GreyhoundAM]

@hamayhah I reviewed the entire thing. You are incorrect sir.

[hamayhah]

@GreyhoundAM Care to share what page in the filing this info is on?

[Illuminati Investments]

Shocking. I mean who would have ever though $BTC would be used for something illegal...

[clrodrick]

@Illuminati Investments $US leads the way for criminal activity, I hope you realize that. Criminals are always keeping an eye out for tech advances to help them more easily be criminals. The invention of automobile made it much easier for criminals to rob banks and get away with it. Should government ban automobiles? Of course not, and same applies for all cool tech advances

[Illuminati Investments]

@clrodrick Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Yes!

[Ronaldo123]

The CEO Changpeng Zhao is a crook and needs to be arrested and go to jail asap. Canada/US governments should not wait any longer that they need to shut down Binance now.

[prema_donna]

Anyone with half a brain could've seen this coming. CZ is an obvious crook. I think a lot of my fellow Americans are not very familiar with him because he didn't get involved in elections like SBF did. But the truth is that Binance has built their business employing the very same dirty tricks that FTX did. Here's a list of them:

1. Commingling user funds
2. Trading against their clients
3. Byzantine corporate structure with all sorts of shell companies and affiliated entities, all leading back to a few insiders
4. Zero actual audits
5. Offering insane leverage (125x) to lure in degenerate gamblers
6. Buying up small exchanges in a new country to gain access to that country (regulatory arbitrage)
7. Bogus exchange token(s) that makes up 40%+ of total exchange assets
8. Hiring former SEC regulators to their legal department to escape scrutiny
9. Hiring celebrities and promoters to pump up their scam exchange
10. Moving headquarters at a whim to escape legal scrutiny

And some unique ones, that in my opinion, make him the world's greatest financial criminal today.

1. Knowingly allowing Hamas, Iran, North Korea, and Russia launder tens of billions of dollars on their platform. Binance even hands dissident contact info straight to the Russian government, among other dictatorships.
2. Blatant stable coin manipulation. The long-unfunded BUSD, and the insanely sketchy Tether are completely manipulated by Binance. These coins are not backed 1-to-1 or even close to that with actual currency. It's all a big scam.
3. Lying about his associations with China repeatedly. We now know he had most of his employees in China well past the point the CCP banned cryptocurrency. Why was he allowed to do that?
4. Scamming millions of people in third-world countries, who are desperate to find an alternative to their country's failing currency, by heavily promoting his platform to be used by said people using blatantly dishonest tactics

CZ is a crook, plain and simple. He ought to be in jail, and for a REALLY long time. However, unlike the delusional SBF, he knows he's breaking the law. He's always sure to be in a country without an extradition treaty to the US. Thus, he has a near-0% chance of actually serving jail time! He plays off the anti-US sentiment perfectly, and is likely to evade US courts as long as he lives. He just tweets "FUD" and a bunch of schmucks believe him. It's that simple.

[clrodrick]

@prema_donna CZ *may* be a crook, however it is not just him the SEC is gunning for. SEC is gunning for CoinBase too along with basically the entire industry

[Moomoo22u2]

Coin is also shady. Who isn’t shady in this space when your sole object is to rope more and bag holders at higher prices than what you paid.

[clrodrick]

@Moomoo22u2 How is CB shady? They run a very transparent business

[I_LUV_MY_DIVS]

They will come after Crypto until their owners, JPMC and Goldman (and others), tell them to stop. Goldman has to figure out to own it all before they allow the technology to help people.

[DayTradeLongTerm]

@I_LUV_MY_DIVS .... so the price of crypto will be driven down until the big banks adopt it.... all a part of their plan

[Mr Nobodi]

To think this all started because of a Twitter spat between Zhao and SBF. Zhao should have gone through with that FTX purchase when he had the chance.

[Mr Nobodi]

SEC doesn’t want to make clear crypto rules. That would make it too easy for people to follow the rules and then it would be harder to make up lawsuits on the fly.

[Cathie Would]

I knew he was just another lyin scammer when he tried to make himself out to be a white knight last year after the FTX collapse, that was too easy.

[Ambient Insight]

CZ is a criminal but this is a joke with SEC going after an off shore unregulated exchange. What a waste of resources.

[Moomoo22u2]

@Ambient Insight be patient they’ll soon be going after CoinBase for all their shady dealings as well.

[Viet Quant 2nd place in math comp]

@Ambient Insight maybe so, but isn't US users are the majority of Binance users? if SEC can stop US users from using the exchange, it will ruin Binance

[Financial Freedom Institute]

The SEC is coming for every single exchange. Cash out while you can.

[TomatoHead]

Three words. L. O. L.

Guess that's what happens when transparency and sound economic principles are not part of your business model.

[Cathie Would]

COIN is next, but the HOOD will be fine.

[Ambient Insight]

@alpha582 COIN is not next, instead of an off shore unregulated black box. COIN is a publicly traded company with big 4 auditors and quarterly filings. Do you see any evidence of fraud in their financial statements? Please point it out with actual data or shut up with your lies.

[GreyhoundAM]

@Ambient Insight not to mention the SEC approved their IPO

[labas112]

@GreyhoundAM
The SEC has been asleep at the wheel for years. Not sure their stamp of approval means anything at this point.

[SilverBandit]

good news

[Tall Seller]

Hard not to be a Ponzi pusher for all those who push Ponzi’s.

[SlowHandLuke]

Nice drop.

[High Yield FIREVestor]

@SlowHandLuke TRUE

[TomatoHead]

@SlowHandLuke About to get nicer. See you in 2024!