U.S. Finally Lowers Boom On Changpeng Zhao, Binance

A new civil suit against Binance filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accuses the crypto giant of a slew of counts, including failing to register its derivative products and failing to fence off its services from US customers, Prarthana Prakash and Tristan Bove reported for Fortune.

Photo Insert: Zhao may be facing an avalanche of legal troubles in the US

It also reveals details about alleged criminal activity by top officers of the firm, from founder Changpeng Zhao down, whom CFTC accuses of engaging in criminal transactions.

“Internally, Binance officers, employees, and agents have acknowledged that the Binance platform has facilitated potentially illegal activities,” the complaint reads, citing the talk between ex-Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim and a colleague in February 2019 about a deal with Hamas.

Lim told the colleague that terrorists typically send “small sums,” because “large sums constitute money laundering.” The colleague responded, “can barely buy an AK47 with 600 bucks.”

Lim also acknowledged in February 2020 that some of Binance’s customers, including those from Russia, were involved in illegal activities, according to the complaint.

Lim wrote in a chat message about those trades: “Like come on. They are here for crime.” Money Laundering Reporting Officer at Binance responded at the time, “we see the bad, but we close 2 eyes.”

In another instance, a Binance employee asked Lim and a colleague in July 2020 to remove a customer sourcing over $5 million from “questionable services” believed to be illegal.

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