Binance US Moved $400M to Trading Firm Linked to CEO CZ: Reuters

Binance moved huge sums of cash from U.S. partner to a trading firm linked to Binance CEO, bank records show.

1 min read

Feb 16, 2023

Crypto exchange Binance US moved $400 million from its platform to a trading firm managed by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, a Reuters report today claims, citing documents.

The cash was moved in the first three months of 2021 from the Binance US account at Silvergate Bank to Merit Peak Ltd, the news agency said.

Merit Peak Ltd is a little-known trading firm reportedly managed by Zhao. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said last year that it was investigating the firm.

Binance US is a digital asset exchange for U.S. customers. It is a partner of the world's biggest crypto exchange Binance but is ostensibly independently run.

Reuters also cited text messages from Binance US executives concerned about the flow of funds. Former Binance US CEO Catherine Coley asked about the transfers at the time, referring to them as "unexpected," according to Reuters. Coley was unceremoniously ousted as CEO of Binance US in April 2021, replaced by former OCC Chief Brian Brooks—who himself departed the company three months later.

Neither Binance nor Binance US representatives immediately responded to Decrypt's request for a comment.

Yesterday, Binance said it would likely pay fines to settle SEC investigations.

Get crypto news straight to your inbox--

sign up for the Decrypt Daily below. (It’s free).

Get Email!

Robinhood CEO Decries 'Regulatory Onslaught' on Crypto, Vows to Fight SEC

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has become Wall Street’s latest power player to blast a wave of enforcement action notices from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The retail trading platform disclosed Friday that it had received a Wells Notice from the SEC. Put on notice that an enforcement action could be coming, Robinhood Crypto said the agency had previously scrutinized its token listings and crypto custody practices in a filing. “The SEC’s continued attack on crypto, coupled with recent...

Bitcoin ETFs Take In $217 Million for Second Consecutive Day of Net Gains

Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) fever is back? It looks like it. After a sluggish few weeks of outflows, investors are back chucking cash at the products. Yesterday, every single fund was in the green with positive inflows. A total of $217 million entered the newly approved products on Monday, according to data from investment management company Farside Investors. The same goes for the trading day before that—on Friday—when investors plugged a collective total of $378 million into the funds....

SEC Crypto Crackdown: Every Company That Is Being Investigated

Almost every week lately, it seems there’s a new announcement that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has gone after yet another crypto company for alleged securities violations. And the crackdown doesn’t appear to be cooling down anytime soon. Here’s a handy running list to keep track of all crypto-related actions that the SEC has taken of late, including confirmed Wells Notices informing companies of impending enforcement action, reported inquiries, and a recap of some of the bi...

News

Courses

Deep Dives

Coins

Videos