Wyatt Alvarez
A representative from Binance.US is said to have declared that only their staff had access to the exchange's accounts, apparently encompassing those at Silvergate Bank.
An inquiry has proposed that the major digital money exchange, Binance, may have administered the transfer of around $400 million from a Binance.US account to a trading company owned by chief executive Changpeng Zhao.
An investigation conducted by Reuters on Feb. 16 found that Binance.US had sent $400 million through a set of transactions in 2021 to trading firm Merit Peak. This resulted in the Security and Exchange Commission launching a probe in Feb. 2022 to establish any potential ties between Merit Peak and Binance.US.
A spokesperson from Binance.US stated that Merit Peak was not trading or offering any services on the Binance.US platform, and that only their staff had access to its banking accounts. The funds were held securely by BAM Trading Services, which is owned by Binance.US, at Silvergate Bank.
The release of the report occurred as Binance released a blog post called "Building Trust in the Crypto Ecosystem." In the post, Binance emphasized that customer assets should be used only according to the customers' explicit permission. The exchange refuted a June 2022 Reuters article that accused the platform of contributing to billions of dollars in money laundering, and stated that Reuters was falsely informing the public.
Binance, which does not have permission to work in the U.S., asserts that Binance.US is a totally independent associate.
Binance US emphasized the fact that their leadership staff has a background working in the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the New York Federal Reserve Bank; with the goal of operating their platform in an ethically sound manner that meets U.S. laws and regulations. Additionally, they stated that Binance.US's reserves are fully secured, with ongoing audits taking place to ensure transparency and accuracy.