• Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been accused of mixing user funds with corporate revenue in 2020 and 2021.
• Binance Chief Communications Officer Patrick Hillmann responded to the allegations by calling the story “weak” and xenophobic.
• Reuters reported that Binance had accounts with Silvergate Bank and that comingling happened “almost daily” in those accounts.
Allegations Against Binance
A Reuters report on Tuesday suggested that Binance – the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – comingled billions of dollars worth of customer assets with its corporate revenue in 2020 and 2021, obscuring the whereabouts of their money. The initial Reuters report cited multiple anonymous sources familiar with the matter, one of whom had “direct knowledge of Binance’s group finances.” The source claimed that comingling happened “almost daily” in accounts Binance held with Silvergate – a now collapsed crypto-supportive bank that’s been investigated for helping the bankrupt FTX exchange comingle funds with Alameda Research.
Binance’s Response to Allegations
Binance’s Chief Communications Officer Patrick Hillmann responded by calling the story “weak” and xenophobic but admitted that Binance has had “regulatory shortcomings” in the past. He also noted that none of the funds within its Silvergate accounts were customer deposits, but rather funds used to purchase BUSD, which is Binance’s native dollar-pegged stablecoin. However, throughout 2021, there was potential confusion as their website represented dollar transfers to its platform as “deposits” which would be “credited” to their accounts as BUSD.
Issuer Behind USD Backing
Paxos – the issuer behind BUSD – was forced to pay an undisclosed fine last year for failing to adequately monitor customers who were using Paxos/BUSD to fund illicit activities on other platforms outside of its approved list of exchanges or wallets. This incident raised questions about whether or not sufficient safeguards were being taken by companies like Paxos when issuing stablecoins backed by US Dollars since it seemed they turned a blind eye when it came to where customers were sending them after purchasing them from Paxos/BUSD directly.
Regulations Around Stablecoins
The scandal shed light on how much regulation is needed around stablecoins backed by US Dollars since they are considered financial instruments under US law and thus subject to more stringent requirements than those associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum which are not legally defined as securities or commodities regulated under federal law. This means companies issuing these tokens must adhere strictly to know-your-customer (KYC) policies as well as Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations in order ensure they aren’t facilitating illegal activities such as money laundering through their platforms – something which seemed lax at best when looking at Paxos/BUSD prior incident mentioned above.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while there still needs to be more clarity around how exactly customers’ money is handled between exchanges and banks when dealing with fiat currencies like US Dollars, this incident shows why robust KYC & AML procedures need to be implemented by any firm issuing tokens backed by real-world value if they want maintain legitimacy within established financial systems worldwide..