• CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam spoke out against Binance and its leadership at a public event held at Princeton University.
• He alleges that the cryptocurrency exchange intentionally broke U.S. rules concerning futures and commodities.
• The CFTC is pressing seven counts against Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao including failure to register, failure to supervise diligently, and evasion of laws.
CFTC Chair Alleges Binance Intentionally Broke Rules
The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Behnam recently spoke out against Binance and its leadership at a public-facing event held at Princeton University. He alleged that Binance intentionally flouted U.S. rules concerning operations, including knowingly allowing U.S. citizens to participate on the exchange through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and other obfuscation tools.
CFTC Lawsuit Against Binance
The CFTC has filed a lawsuit against Biance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao for allegedly trading violations which include executing unregistered futures transactions, providing illegal commodities options, failure to register as a Futures Commission Merchant, Designated Contract Market or Swap Execution Facility, failure to supervise diligently or implement AML/KYC measures and law evasion.
Behnam’s Comments
At the DeCenter Spring Conference at Princeton University on April 14th, Chairman Behnam told those in attendance that “These are not unsophisticated individuals,” referring to the leaders of Biance who were knowingly operating outside of US laws governing the exchange of commodities and futures.” He also said “If you are going to offer futures contracts in the US., there is a clear understanding that you are registered with the CFTC and comply by law.”
Other Legal Actions Against Biance
Biance faces legal action from other organizations such as IRS and federal prosecutors along with the aforementioned lawsuit from CFTC for trading violations mentioned earlier in this article .