Crypto Giant Binance Is Planning to Pull Out of the U.S

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance is considering pulling out of the U.S. market due to investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, and the Internal Revenue Service.

As the investigation continues, Binance is intending to sever its intermediary relationship with banks and service companies and re-evaluate its venture investments in the U.S., citing sources familiar with the matter, not ruling out the possibility of taking down all tokens issued in the U.S., including Circle’s stablecoin USD Coin.

In the first three months of 2021, more than $400 million flowed out of the Binance US account at California-based Silvergate Bank and was transferred to the account of Merit Peak, a cryptocurrency company closely linked to CEO Changpeng Zhao, according to a press investigation.

Although the report said that it was impossible to verify the reason for the transfer and whether the money belonged to Binance’s customers, the news still raised concerns among Binance executives, who said that the transfer was made without their knowledge. On the other hand, Merit Peak, which is associated with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, has been confirmed to have no transaction history with Binance and has never provided any type of service, leading to suspicions that Zhao intended to transfer the clients’ assets to his own shell company before Binance pulled out of the US. As of press time, Changpeng Zhao had not yet responded to the questions.