Binance CEO Denies Report That Company Is Cutting Ties With US
The Chief Executive Officer of Binance, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, has refuted a claim that the firm is contemplating severing connections with its commercial partners in the United States. In recent weeks, the cryptocurrency exchange known as Binance has been the focus of increased attention from regulatory authorities in the United States.
Bloomberg published on February 17 that Binance Holdings "is looking into whether to sever ties with intermediary firms such as banks and services firms and is reassessing venture-capital investments in the United States," citing an unnamed source. The source was quoted as saying that Binance Holdings was considering whether or not to sever ties with intermediary firms. According to the source, there is a possibility that tokens issued by companies situated in the United States, such as Circle's USD Coin (USDC), would be delisted.
CZ posted "4. False" in apparent reference to his New Year's tweet of "Do's and Don'ts," in which the fourth item on the list was "Ignore FUD, false news, assaults, etc." on the same day that a report on the Bloomberg article was published.
In a subsequent tweet, CZ said that the company has "drawn back" on certain possible investments or bids for insolvent firms in the United States for the time being.
CZ said in a tweet on February 13 that Binance will be evaluating projects in nations where there is "ongoing regulatory uncertainty to ensure our consumers are sheltered from any excessive damage." Customers in the United States who want to trade cryptocurrencies are directed away from Binance Holdings and onto the separate and independent Binance.US platform.
The cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Binance.US have recently been the target of investigations conducted by authorities in the United States. According to recent reports, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the links between Binance.US and trading businesses that have direct ties to China.
On February 8, Binance, but not Binance.US, blocked bank transactions in United States dollars without providing a reason; nonetheless, the move pointed at issues with the banking system. Following allegations that the SEC was getting ready to file a lawsuit about the currency, the New York Department of Financial Services issued an order on February 13 mandating that Paxos Trust cease production of the dollar-pegged stablecoin BUSD (BUSD) used on Binance. As a direct consequence of this, Binance saw an unprecedented influx of withdrawal requests.
Patrick Hillmann, who serves as the chief strategy officer for Binance, allegedly said on February 15 that the business anticipated that U.S. authorities will demand monetary penalties from the companies as a result of previous compliance concerns.