Binance Counters Claims of Mixing Company and Client Funds

Photo - Binance Counters Claims of Mixing Company and Client Funds
In a swift response to a Reuters report, prominent crypto trading platform Binance firmly refuted claims of impropriety in managing its clients' assets. The allegation centered on Binance purportedly infringing US banking norms by merging customer deposits with the firm's operational earnings.
The contentious report maintained that Binance regularly intertwined its business earnings with user funds throughout 2020 and 2021. It cited three knowledgeable insiders who claimed that the bulk of such blending was carried out in accounts domiciled in the now insolvent Silvergate Bank, with the sum allegedly amassing to billions of dollars.

The specifics of the allegation included customer funds being funneled into a Silvergate account linked to Key Vision Development, a company based in Seychelles and owned by Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao. Allegedly, Binance portrayed to Silvergate that the Key Vision account was primarily designed to garner dollar contributions from overseas clientele.

Further, the report implicated another Silvergate account tied to Zhao's Cayman-registered company in the conversion of monies into the stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD). Yet, it's important to note that the Reuters report couldn't find any proof of loss or theft of Binance client funds.

Responding to these claims, Binance's communication head, Patrick Hillmann, took to Twitter to dismiss the Reuters report as unfounded speculation. He clarified that the claim revolved around USD minting based on user deposits, whereby users were acquiring a Paxos-redeemable stablecoin—a fact that was clearly stated on the platform.

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