An unverified rumor that an Interpol Red Notice was issued for Binance founder and CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao sent shockwaves across the crypto market Monday afternoon, resulting in a sharp decrease in the exchange's token BNB and a slight dip in Bitcoin's (BTC) price as well.

Interpol is an international organization that works alongside national police forces to foster cooperation against transnational criminal activity. A Red Notice specifically relates to an international wanted persons alert and allows countries to alert each other of an individual's criminal activity located in the issuing country, in this case China.

While representatives of both Binance and Interpol did not respond to requests for comment on the rumor, the allegation comes days after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission moved to sue Binance and Zhao for violating regulations regarding unauthorized money transfer services. This news also restarted speculations that the Department of Justice may be looking into the situation, which could lead to possible criminal charges for the major exchange's CEO.

As a result, BNB suffered a major plunge, with a near 4% decrease from it's peak Monday afternoon and 3.5% down from the previous 24 hours. On the other hand, Bitcoin took a small hit as well, declining slightly more than 1% to reach roughly $27,770. Despite the uncertainty and worry brought by the unverified rumors, it is still unclear whether the legal action will continue beyond the CFTC's initial steps.



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