Binance Expects to Pay Fines to Settle With US Regulators for Past Conduct – According to the Wall Street Journal, Patrick Hillmann, Binance’s chief strategy officer, disclosed that the cryptocurrency exchange is anticipating paying penalties to resolve ongoing investigations by U.S. regulatory and law enforcement agencies.
Hillmann clarified that when Binance was starting out, they were not well-versed in the legal requirements and regulations in the U.S., which exposed them to the potential risks of corruption and bribery, money laundering, and economic sanctions.
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The Binance executive stated that the crypto exchange is currently working with regulators to identify potential “remediations” the company has to go through “to make amends” for its past conduct. He expects the outcome to be a fine but cautioned that there could be more. “We just don’t know. That is for regulators to decide,” he emphasized. Binance is said to be under investigation by multiple U.S. authorities.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly looking into the crypto exchange’s alleged breach of U.S. money-laundering laws. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating the BNB crypto token, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is examining whether Binance provided cryptocurrency derivatives to U.S. customers without registering.
The Binance chief strategy officer remarked that although he could not provide an estimate of the fines or the timeline for resolving the issues with U.S. authorities, his company is optimistic about the direction of the discussions and has a strong belief in the outcome.He expressed confidence and a positive sentiment regarding the discussions with U.S. authorities. He opined: “It will be a good moment for our company because it allows us to put it behind us.”
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According to Hillmann, Binance found it challenging to comprehend the regulatory expectations and supervision of the crypto industry by U.S. regulators during a perplexing period. As of now, Binance is not accessible to American investors; however, Binance US, a separate entity managed by BAM Trading Services, serves U.S. crypto traders. The SEC has recently pursued legal action against several crypto firms, such as Kraken for its staking program, Paxos for issuing its stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD), and Terraform Labs for defrauding investors.
