Binance CEO CZ Responds to US Regulator’s Charges – Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, released a blog post in response to the civil enforcement action filed against him and his crypto platform by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC accused Zhao and three Binance entities of multiple violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.
Noting that the CFTC’s civil complaint against him and Binance was “unexpected” and “disappointing,” Zhao explained: “Upon an initial review, the complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts, and we do not agree with the characterization of many of the issues alleged in the complaint.” “We will only be able to give full responses in due time,” CZ noted and proceeded to address some key points.
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Firstly, he claimed that “Binance.com has developed best-in-class technology to ensure compliance,” adding: “We block U.S. users by nationality (KYC), IP (including commonly used VPN endpoints outside of the US), mobile carrier, device fingerprints, bank deposit and withdrawals, blockchain deposits and withdrawals, credit card bin numbers, and more.”
The executive emphasized that his crypto firm is “committed to transparency and cooperation with regulators and law enforcement (LE)” both in the U.S. and globally, elaborating: “Binance currently has more than 750 people in our compliance teams, many with prior law enforcement and regulatory agency backgrounds.”
According to him, Binance has so far received over 55,000 requests from law enforcement agencies and has aided US authorities in freezing and confiscating over $125 million in funds in 2022, and $160 million in 2023. “We intend to continue to respect and collaborate with U.S. and other regulators around the world,” CZ stressed, adding that “Binance.com holds the highest number of licenses/registrations globally, 16 and counting.”
After disclosing that he has two personal accounts on Binance, one for Binance Card and the other for holding cryptocurrencies, Zhao asserted that Binance.com does not participate in trading for profit or manipulate the market. “Binance.com has a 90-day no-day-trading rule for employees, meaning you are not allowed to sell a coin within 90 days of your most recent buy, or vice versa,” he additionally shared.
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“We also prohibit our employees from trading in Futures. Further, we have strict policies for anyone with access to private information, such as details of listings, Launchpad, etc. They are not allowed to buy or sell those coins.” The Binance boss concluded: “I observe these policies myself strictly. I also never participated in Binance Launchpad, Earn, Margin, or Futures.”
