Binance Is In Hot Water AGAIN—Are Binance.US Customers Safe?

Binance’s financial position and its relationship with Binance.US have both, once again, come under scrutiny.

For years, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchange adamantly denied any direct involvement with Binance.US—a purported subsidiary of the trading giant, and a separate entity from Binance.

However, earlier this year, an earth-shattering report from Reuters cast doubt on the supposed separation between the two entities.

According to that report, Binance executives had access to Binance.US accounts at Silvergate Bank.

This could spell potential disaster for the purportedly US-based division of the exchange, as regulatory pressures placed on Binance continue to grow.

It’s no secret that certain elements within the U.S. government and across the E.U. are hostile to cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and the blockchain companies that make up the broader crypto industry.

Binance is a major player in the space and has drawn the ire of these regulators on multiple occasions. …

Add to this the current round of unease relating to Binance’s reserves and finances and we have an environment that is rife for potentially catastrophic damage to the world’s premier exchange.

Take a look at these tweets and reports from both this year and last year—there is clearly a growing sentiment against Binance:

U.S. lender Silvergate Bank authorized the executive, Guangying Chen, a close associate of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, to operate the accounts in 2019 and 2020, according to records from those years.

— Tom Wilson (@_tom_wilson_) June 5, 2023

Uh oh.

Looks like Silvergate might have closed Binance's US bank account?

Probably just FUD, and has nothing to do with Binances criminal investigation for criminal sanctions evasion and money laundering. pic.twitter.com/IeoCVOuK6y

— Bitfinex’ed 🔥🐧 Κασσάνδρα 🏺 (@Bitfinexed) December 17, 2022

CZ: Binance US and Binance are two different companies. Two different worlds. There is no connection.

Ah btw guys we Binance had access to Binance US’s bank account at Silvergate and we took $400m because why not you know. But it’s just money so no real connection. pic.twitter.com/ASKzZS24kx

— Julien Bouteloup (@bneiluj) February 17, 2023

Daily Coin reminds readers:

Leaks in March from a report in The Wall Street Journal suggested that Binance.US was built as a subsidiary to shield Binance from US regulators.

If it were shown that Binance and Binance.US were more interconnected than stated, the SEC would have plenty of ammunition to crack down on the world’s biggest crypto exchange.

In the leaked message, Binance executives warned of “nuclear fallout” if US regulators looked into the exchange on these allegations.

The news was initially reported by Reuters earlier this year but has since come into sharper focus during this latest round of FUD.

NEW: Binance had secret access to a Silvergate bank account belonging to the crypto giant's purportedly independent U.S. partner. During a three-month period, Binance transferred $400 mln from the account to a trading firm managed by CZ, we found: https://t.co/WOvOQ7pTrB

— Angus Berwick (@AABerwick) February 16, 2023

Earlier this year, Reuters reported:

Over the first three months of 2021, more than $400 million flowed from the Binance.US account at California-based Silvergate Bank to this trading firm, Merit Peak Ltd, according to records for the quarter, which were reviewed by Reuters.

The Binance.US account was registered under the name of BAM Trading, the U.S. exchange’s operating company, according to the records.

Company messages show the transfers to Merit Peak began in late 2020.

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