SEC sues Binance, says it evaded US law with “extensive web of deception”
Enlarge / Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks virtually during the Web3 Blockchain Festival in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)
The US Securities and Exchange Commission today sued Binance and its CEO/founder Changpeng Zhao, alleging that the defendants' "blatant disregard" of federal law "enriched themselves by billions of US dollars while placing investors' assets at significant risk."
"Defendants have unlawfully solicited US investors to buy, sell, and trade crypto asset securities through unregistered trading platforms available online at Binance.com and Binance.US," alleged the SEC complaint in US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Binance's CCO (chief compliance officer) "bluntly admitted to another Binance compliance officer in December 2018, 'we are operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro,'" according to the lawsuit. The CCO was also quoted as saying, "We do not want [Binance].com to be regulated ever."