Binance Joins US Crypto Lobbying Group Chamber of Digital Commerce

By Mat Di Salvo

Binance is stepping up its regulatory efforts in the United States. Today, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume announced that it has joined the Chamber of Digital Commerce, an American lobbying group, to "help establish policies that benefit and protect users."

In joining the group’s Executive Committee, Binance said that it would work to “educate, advocate, and bring forth solutions” to help shape crypto regulation in the United States.

The Chamber of Digital Commerce claims to be the world’s largest such association and engages government officials on the use of digital assets and blockchain-based technologies.

Binance’s American entity, Binance.US, joined the group last year. Other prominent members include traditional financial firms like Citi, Visa, and MasterCard, along with crypto industry players such as Dapper Labs, Ripple, and Circle.

“As an organization at the crux of the industry’s rapid growth and complex regulatory environment, working hand in glove with policymakers, regulatory bodies, and industry groups like the Chamber is imperative for Binance,” the company’s VP of Public Affairs Joanne Kubba said in a statement.  

Binance’s move comes as American lawmakers scramble to try and figure out how to regulate the crypto space. The monumental collapse of digital asset exchange FTX in November has been a wake-up call for politicians after the company’s clients—many from the United States—lost potentially billions of dollars’ worth of crypto assets in the crash. 

U.S. authorities are currently considering filing criminal charges against Binance—including CEO and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao—Reuters reported earlier this month. The potential charges are related to an investigation launched in 2018, which focused on Binance’s compliance with anti-money laundering laws and sanctions.

Binance also played a key part in the collapse of FTX: CZ announced that he would sell the exchange’s holdings of FTX’s native token, FTT, a move that triggered a liquidity crisis. He then said that Binance had signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire FTX to help customers, but pulled out the next day after seeing the extent of FTX’s troubles.

Days later, FTX filed for bankruptcy—trashing the entire crypto market, including several companies with exposure to the behemoth. That sort of contagion has defined the year in cryptocurrency, starting with Terra’s collapse in May.

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