A Look at the DOJ Investigation of Binance

Continuing our crypto-news catch-up series, here’s an update on #Binance and ongoing investigation by the US Department of Justice. What do you think will happen next?

Continuing our crypto-news catch-up series, here’s an update on hashtag#Binance and ongoing investigation by the US Department of Justice. You can view the first installment of the series here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/crypto-news-catch-up-what-happened-ftxs-money-gm3group3

Binance - CZ

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, founded by Changpeng Zhao (hashtag#CZ), is embroiled in a litany of troubling accusations and investigations that threaten its future.

Most seriously, Binance is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (hashtag#DOJ) for potential fraud and money laundering related to its global operations. The probe follows bans and restrictions Binance has already faced from regulators worldwide.

The company recently withdrew its application for a license from German regulator BaFin after reports emerged that BaFin had decided against granting Binance a crypto custody license. This comes amidst increased scrutiny of Binance across Europe.

The exchange exited the Netherlands market, deregistered legal entities in the UK and Cyprus, and withdrew its license application in Austria all within the past few months. It was also ordered to cease operations in Belgium by financial authorities. Binance faces investigations in France and Italy while also battling lawsuits from US regulators.

To prepare for upcoming EU regulations, Binance is trying to consolidate regulated entities in larger European markets like France, Italy, and Spain. However, it faces fresh banking difficulties as its euro transactions provider Paysafe stopped supporting Binance.

Outside Europe, an entity called Binance Nigeria—not affiliated with the main Binance exchange—was ordered by Nigeria's securities regulator to cease operations. This indicates the brand damage the swirling allegations have caused.

The regulatory vise continues to tighten around Binance across jurisdictions. While it attempts to adapt its operations, fresh actions from authorities and loss of banking relationships continue plaguing the firm.

Analysts have identified concerns around Binance’s reserves backing its BNB token, with allegations that Binance uses customer funds to prop up BNB’s price. Binance’s opaque “SAFU fund” meant to support BNB also reportedly contains a substantial portion of BNB itself, potentially indicating inadequate independent reserves.

There are also claims that CZ has misrepresented data, such as portraying $2 billion of Tether deposits as new inflows to Binance. Critics accuse CZ of manipulating Binance's stablecoin reserves to undermine rivals while promoting questionable alternatives like TUSD.

Meanwhile, Binance’s U.S. subsidiary failed to provide required accounting statements on time to U.S. authorities. This reinforces compliance concerns even around Binance’s regulated entities.

Adding to allegations, developers say Binance issued over 200 million BNB tokens beyond its capped supply and has undercollateralized assets bridged across its BNB Chain.

The escalating legal and transparency problems have sparked an exodus of top Binance executives and counsel, likely due to loss of confidence in CZ’s leadership. The layoffs and cost-cutting Binance has undertaken also seem at odds with its purported profitability.

While Binance rejects many of the claims, global regulators are likely to continue tightening the screws. The swirling accusations point to larger issues around Binance’s management, regulatory evasion, market manipulation, and misuse of client funds. More clarity will emerge as investigations and lawsuits progress, but Binance faces heavy turbulence ahead.