US Lawmakers Claim Binance Could Have Lied to Authorities
- US lawmakers are concerned that Binance Global is operating illegally in the US through its US affiliate.
- Binance has denied aiding in money laundering or commingling users’ funds, as claimed by the SEC.
- Binance has expressed plans to defend itself following Monday’s lawsuit from the SEC, accusing it of trading unregistered securities.
A Bloomberg report has revealed that two Senate Democrats recently requested that the Justice Department look into allegations that Binance Holdings Ltd. misled Congress over its business operations. In a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed the cryptocurrency exchange may have made deceptive claims, including whether its American affiliate, Binance.US, was in fact a unique company.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that Binance.US and Binance Global weren’t genuinely independent from each other. The SEC claimed that Binance violated US laws by allowing US citizens to trade on its platforms.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, accusing them of selling unregistered securities. Senator Van Hollen and Senator Warren, in their letter to the DOJ, claimed the allegations against Binance were a “serious matter” and should be carefully investigated.
The senators wrote that “It appears that Binance and Binance.US undermined this important investigation and the legislative process by providing false and misleading information to Congress.”
Three U.S. Senators, including Warren, wrote to CZ and Binance. US CEO Brian Shroder in March to question the exchange’s operations and demand information on their financials. The senators, at the time, claimed that Binance and its American affiliate had tried to circumvent local authorities, bypass restrictions, and participate in money laundering.
The letter said that “while Mr. Zhao has claimed that Binance.US is a “fully independent entity,” in reality, he controls the company as a “de facto subsidiary” of Binance.” Binance Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillman later sent the requested documents along with a 14-page letter to Congress, which provided insight into the exchange’s compliance history and acknowledged previous mistakes.
Both Binance Global and Binance.US have publicly denied the SEC’s claims and expressed their plans to defend themselves.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
