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Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has seen a massive outflow of funds following charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a report by CNBC published on June 6, 2023. CNBC got this news from crypto research firm Nansen, which apparently says investors withdrew a staggering $791.6 million from Binance within a 24-hour period.
As CryptoGlobe reported yesterday, on June 5, 2023, the U.S. SEC filed 13 charges against Binance Holdings Ltd., its U.S.-based affiliate BAM Trading Services Inc., and their founder, Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”), as stated in an SEC press release. The charges include operating unregistered exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies, misrepresenting trading controls and oversight on the Binance.US platform, and the unregistered offer and sale of securities. CNBC says this event has led to a significant shift in investor sentiment, resulting in the massive outflow of funds.
Per the CNBC report, after the controversial crypto exchange FTX collapse in November 2022, a significant portion of the displaced assets found their way to Binance. However, the recent SEC charges have seemingly reversed some of these gains.
The report further details that investors withdrew $1.65 billion worth of assets from Binance and an additional $13 million from the contentious Binance’s U.S. arm on the Ethereum blockchain after the charges were announced. The inflows to Binance and Binance.US during the same period were considerably lower, totaling only $871.8 million and $11.53 million, respectively.
The SEC’s allegations against Binance include engaging in the unregistered offer and sale of securities. The charges also extend to CZ and his entities, accusing them of improperly mixing investor funds with Binance’s own funds. Furthermore, the SEC alleges that Binance bypassed its own controls to allow institutional U.S. investors to use Binance’s international exchange instead of the supposedly isolated U.S. version.
Earlier this year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had already brought forth similar charges against Binance. The allegations of fund commingling and compliance failures mirror those previously made against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his now-defunct exchange.
In a blog post published on June 5, 2023, Binance expressed disappointment in the U.S. SEC’s decision to file a complaint against the company and its CEO. The company stated that it had actively cooperated with the SEC’s investigations and had worked diligently to answer their questions and address their concerns.
While Binance takes the SEC’s allegations seriously, it believes they should not be the subject of an SEC enforcement action, especially on an emergency basis. The company intends to defend its platform vigorously. Binance views the SEC’s refusal to engage productively as another example of the Commission’s misguided refusal to provide much-needed clarity and guidance to the digital asset industry.
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