SEC sues Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao for U.S. securities violations

2 yıl önce

The CEO of the largest online exchange for trading cryptocurrency, Binance, said he is establishing a recovery fund to help people in the industry, while saying the sector "will be fine."

Ben McShane / Contributor / Getty Images

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed 13 charges against crypto exchange Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao, alleging that it comingled billions of dollars worth of user funds and sent them to a European company controlled by Zhao.

The U.S. regulator alleged that Zhao and his exchange worked to subvert "their own controls" to allow high-net worth investors and customers to continue trading on Binance's unregulated international exchange.

The defendants showed a "blatant disregard" of federal law, the SEC alleged in its complaint.

The complaint also alleges that Binance and Zhao violated "critical" provisions of federal security laws, including self-dealing and market manipulation, through Merit Peak Limited, which Zhao controlled and owned.

"Through thirteen charges, we allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law," said SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a release.

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