- Binance is also under investigation by the US Justice Department and the IRS
- SEC is also probing market-making companies fully or partially owned by the CEO of Binance
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is probing into whether world’s leading crypto exchange should have registered the initial coin offering of Binance Coin (BNB) with SEC when it took place back in 2017, CoinDesk reported, citing a Monday report by Bloomberg, who in turn cited confidential sources.
Binance is cooperating
After the medium reached out to Binance for the details of the reported probe, they were assured the exchange was cooperating. A Binance spokesperson wrote in an email to CoinDesk:
As the industry has grown at a rapid pace, we have been working very diligently to educate and assist law enforcement and regulators in the U.S. and internationally, while also adhering to new guidelines. We will continue to meet all requirements set by regulators.
BNB loses 4% on the news
After news of the report emerged, BNB lost around 4% of its value. Currently, the exchange is under investigation by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the US Justice Department, and the IRS.
The world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume still isn’t headquartered in any one country, although it has shared some plans for that.
CZ also under fire
The SEC is also probing market-making companies fully or partially owned by the CEO of Binance, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, which do business with the exchange’s US affiliate Binance.US, Bloomberg reported.
They added that the SEC wanted to find out whether the US affiliate is independent of the global exchange. The watchdog is checking into allegations of insider trading by employees of Binance.US. The SEC did not comment on the existence of such an investigation.
