Binance’s ‘Legitimacy’ Was Questioned by Regulators

The U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform, for alleged violations of anti-money laundering laws and sanctions since 2018, according to earlier media reports. At least six prosecutors involved in the case now believe there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges against several top executives, including Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng, and the amount involved is expected to exceed $10 billion.

After the news broke, last week, Binance handled net outflows of about $6 billion within 72 hours, experienced unprecedented withdrawals, and the largest single-day drop in digital tokens. It is known that Binance received approximately $2.1 billion worth of tokens BUSD and FTT from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) after exiting part of its equity investment in FTX last year. To restore customer confidence, Zhao Changpeng accepted an interview with CNBC on Thursday; unfortunately, he failed to answer the host’s question about whether the company could handle $2.1 billion withdrawals but only said his company was financially strong. And another CNBC host, Jim Cramer, bluntly argued that Binance has “no real legitimacy”.