Changpeng Zhao News

The surprise lawsuit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against crypto exchange Binance sent shock waves across the markets today. 

Major US financial market regulatory agency the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is suing Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao.

The watchdog is charging CEO Changpeng Zhao and three entities that operate the Binance platform with numerous violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations. The complaint also charges Samuel Lim, Binance’s former chief compliance officer, with aiding and abetting. The complaint alleges that over the past four year, Binance has failed in it duty to perform identity verification checks and implement compliance contriols to prevent money laundering over the platform.

A recent article surfaced alleging that Binance employees and volunteers were assisting Chinese users on how to bypass Know Your Customer (KYC) and other security protocols. 

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has made significant efforts to be a leader in transparency in the industry since the FTX scandal. However, a new report claims that Binance insiders are allegedly helping users bypass security protocols. 

Binance has answered a letter from United States Senators from early March requesting information about the crypto exchange operations in the country, including its balance sheet. 

Binance has confirmed plans to convert $1 billion worth of Binance USD (BUSD) from its Industry Recovery Initiative to native crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB.

The death spiral of the Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) ecosystem served as a catalyst to the 2022 bear market — causing losses in the millions, damaging investor sentiment and intensifying the regulatory spotlight over cryptocurrencies. However, the recent depegging of Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) led Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao to believe that traditional banks are a risk to stablecoins that are usually pegged 1:1 with fiat currencies, like the US dollar.

The voluntary liquidation of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate has sparked many to share their thoughts about the source of its troubles and the broader impact of the bank’s collapse on crypto. 

Binance has expanded its Proof-of-Reserve (PoR) report to include 11 more tokens, bringing the overall amount of funds verifiable via the exchange's PoR system to over $63 billion. 

Binance approached US Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler in 2018 and 2019 to become an advisor for the firm. That’s according to a new bombshell report published by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, which claims that Binance embarked on a campaign to “neutralize” US authorities out of fear of prosecution, citing messages and documents from 2018 to 2020.

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has denied a rumor that he had been “shot” by the U.S. federal law enforcement agency, which was “spread widely” across a Chinese messaging platform, in a recent tweet.

Three US senators have asked Binance and its US partner Binance.US to provide detailed information regarding their business operations amid accusations of illegal practices.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is “not planning any layoffs” and is instead trying to fill another 500 roles by the end of June, according to a Binance spokesperson.

Amid various reports about Binance trying to revive its crypto licensing plans in Singapore, the crypto exchange has come out to set the record straight. Binance told Cointelegraph that Ceffu, its "independent institutional custody partner," is the one looking to apply for an institutional crypto custody license when Singapore’s central bank opens up applications.

In the aftermath of the FTX collapse, Forbes published an article that focused on the recent “shuffling” of funds by the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. 

Coinbase (COIN) will suspend trading of rival exchange Binance's BUSD stablecoin, adding to Binance's woes just days after crypto-platform Paxos was forced to halt its minting of BUSD.

A new report claims Binance commingled different investors’ funds last year in a move "eerily" similar to actions by now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX. 

Binance Holdings Ltd. is considering ending relationships with US business partners as regulators turn up the heat. The company, which operates the world’s largest crypto exchange, is weighing the retreat after its relationships with a key banking partner and stablecoin issuer ran into trouble amid intense scrutiny from authorities, according to a person familiar with the issue. Binance has been probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service. Binance Holdings is looking at whether to sever ties with intermediary firms such as banks and services firms and is reassessing venture-capital investments in the US, according to the person, who asked not to be identified discussing details that had not yet been made public. It will consider de-listing tokens from any US-based projects, including Circle’s stablecoin USD Coin, the person said. Binance Holdings isn’t authorized to serve crypto customers in the US. Instead, there’s Binance.US, a far smaller exchange that claims to be independent and said it has no plans to leave the US.

With U.S. regulators effectively canceling Binance-branded BUSD stablecoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is now looking beyond dollar-based stablecoins - and it has received notable interest from potential partners. 

Binance Chief Changpeng Zhao has addressed the rumors about a possible breakup between his crypto exchange and its United States-based partners.