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Binance Faces Scrutiny Over Switzerland-Based Sigma Chain in Latest SEC Filing

by Blockchain NewsJune 5, 2023

In the latest court filing by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Binance, the Switzerland-registered crypto-asset trading company, Sigma Chain, is under scrutiny. The filing alleges that Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, is the actual owner of Sigma Chain, with multiple Binance employees operating the firm.

The filing also claims that Binance’s back office manager holds a dual role, serving as Sigma Chain’s president and having signatory rights over the bank accounts of BAM Trading. Sigma Chain is portrayed as an active trader on two Binance platforms, self-proclaiming itself as a “major market maker for the Binance exchange.”

Following the launch of Binance.US, CZ reportedly instructed Sigma Chain to become one of its initial market makers. Furthermore, since the introduction of over-the-counter (OTC) and One-Click Buy/Sell (OCBS) services on the Binance.US platform, Sigma Chain has been the counterparty for platform customers, sometimes serving as the sole counterparty.

This development adds to the complexity of the ongoing legal scenario between Binance and the SEC, with potential ramifications for the operation of crypto exchanges and the roles played by affiliated entities. It remains to be seen how this case will unfold in court.

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Binance Executive Accuses Former FTX CEO of Spreading Fake Rumors

by Blockchain NewsApril 22, 2023

Binance executive Patrick Hillmann recently took to Twitter to accuse former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, of spreading “fake rumors” about Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. Hillmann claimed that Bankman-Fried used his influence to label Zhao as an “evil Chinese” in an attempt to perpetuate his alleged scams at FTX.

The public relationship between SBF and CZ had been often antagonistic, with the two exchanges having financial ties. However, Hillmann’s recent comments suggest that Bankman-Fried had taken things further than what was publicly visible. Hillmann also claimed that the denigration of CZ was the norm at FTX and had nothing to do with the decision to sell the worthless FTT on the company’s books.

The rivalry between FTX and Binance came to a head when CZ announced plans for Binance to liquidate its position in FTX Token (FTT) prior to FTX’s bankruptcy, hinting that Binance would consider purchasing the competitor. However, when the deal fell apart, and FTX filed for Chapter 11, the two industry heads traded barbs through social media. CZ called SBF a “fraudster,” and the former FTX CEO suggested that Zhao lied about the buyout discussions.

Despite the animosity between the two leaders, Zhao continues to lead Binance as CEO and regularly posts messages on social media. In contrast, Bankman-Fried faces 13 federal charges, including those related to bribery and wire fraud. As part of his bail conditions, he has only limited internet access.

Bankman-Fried’s alleged actions to denigrate CZ raise concerns about the role of social media in perpetuating rivalries and conflicts within the crypto industry. As crypto exchanges continue to grow in size and importance, it is crucial for their leaders to maintain a professional and respectful public image. Failure to do so could lead to reputational damage and undermine investor trust in the entire industry.

The rivalry between FTX and Binance is not unique in the crypto industry. The space is known for its intense competition, with companies vying for dominance in an emerging market with vast potential. However, the leaders of these companies must remember that they have a responsibility to act with integrity and professionalism in their public statements and behavior.

In conclusion, Hillmann’s accusations against Bankman-Fried highlight the need for greater scrutiny of the conduct of crypto industry leaders. As the industry continues to grow and evolve, it is important for regulators and investors to demand transparency and accountability from these companies and their leaders. Only by doing so can we ensure that the promise of crypto technology is fulfilled in a way that benefits everyone.

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Tagged : Binance / Changpeng Zhao / FTX / News / Rumors / Sam Bankman-Fried / Twitter

Binance CEO Warns Traditional Institutions Against Reducing Exposure to Crypto

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 28, 2023

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is of the opinion that a proactive reduction in exposure to cryptocurrencies by traditional institutions as a reaction to ecosystem collapses in 2022 could potentially have a negative impact on traditional financial players. This is because “CZ” Zhao believes that ecosystem collapses will occur in 2022. This idea originates from Zhao’s conviction that such a decrease may have a detrimental effect on the conventional participants in the financial sector. Zhao’s view that such a decline may have an adverse impact on the traditional players in the financial sector is whence he got the notion that a fall of this magnitude should be considered. He received the idea that a drop of this scale should be evaluated from Zhao’s viewpoint, which is that such a decrease may have a negative influence on the conventional players in the financial industry. Zhao believes that this decline might have a negative impact on the traditional players. This activity takes place at a time when well-established institutions are reacting to this action by reducing their exposure to cryptocurrency markets.

Investor confidence in the cryptocurrency industry as a whole has drastically declined as a direct consequence of the failure of important cryptocurrency businesses such as FTX and Terraform Labs. Traditional markets have been compelled to reconsider the methods that they had intended to employ in order to infiltrate the ecology of bitcoin as a direct result of this failure. Traditional markets had planned to utilise these techniques in order to penetrate the bitcoin ecosystem. CZ is of the opinion that this choice may prove to be ineffective in the twenty years that are to come, which is a possibility despite the fact that the reluctance of conventional participants creates a barrier to the widespread use of cryptocurrencies in the near future. CZ is of the opinion that this choice may prove to be ineffective in the twenty years that are to come. CZ is of the opinion that if one were to wait twenty years and then make this decision, it may end up being counterproductive.

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Tagged : Adoption / Binance / Business / Changpeng Zhao / Finance / News

Coindesk May Be Sold as Parent Company DCG Struggles

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 20, 2023

According to recent reports, the cryptocurrency news website CoinDesk is mulling over the possibility of being sold as its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), wants to improve its financial standing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that CoinDesk has enlisted the assistance of investment bankers from the financial advising firm Lazard. These investment bankers are assisting the company in weighing its alternatives, which may include a whole or partial sale.

You know, I recently became aware that Coindesk is now available for purchase.

Charles Hoskinson, who tweets under the handle @IOHK Charles 19th of January, 2023 In the past few months, it has been reported that DCG has received multiple offers for the media company that are higher than $200 million. If these reports are accurate, this would represent an incredible return on investment for DCG given that the company was reportedly purchased by DCG for only $500,000 in 2016.

It would seem that Barry Silbert’s DCG is experiencing significant financial difficulties as of late. On January 17, the company informed its shareholders that it will be suspending dividend payments in an attempt to improve the soundness of its balance sheet and “preserve liquidity.”

On January 18, Bloomberg reported that another DCG subsidiary, crypto lending business Genesis Global, was intending to file for bankruptcy after it revealed that it owed creditors over $3 billion. This is undoubtedly the primary cause contributing to DCG’s current financial predicament.

According to the company’s website, DCG’s venture capital portfolio includes about 200 crypto-related startups, some of which include CoinDesk and Genesis.

The asset management company Grayscale Investments, the cryptocurrency exchange Luno, and the advising firm Foundry are all other businesses that are owned by DCG.

Some people believe that the article published by CoinDesk in November that revealed the irregularities in Alameda Research’s balance sheet was the first domino that eventually led to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX as well as the liquidity issues that Genesis, its parent company DCG, and the broader cryptocurrency market are currently facing.

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Tagged : Bankruptcy / Barry Silbert / Business / Changpeng Zhao / Circle / Cryptocurrency Exchange / Digital Currency Group / FTX / Ftx Token / Grayscale / Luno / News / Usd Coin

Binance CEO Says the Industry has been Setback a Few Years With FTX Saga

by Blockchain NewsNovember 12, 2022

The blockchain industry has been experiencing a lot of challenges due to the fallout of one of the biggest crypto exchanges, FTX.

So many notable industry experts and stakeholders have given their opinions on what they thought brought about the current crisis in FTX. Some have also highlighted what they think the industry will look like going forward.

The CEO of the largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has shared his thoughts on how the cryptocurrency market would rebound following the demise of FTX. Zhao expressed his views during the most recent Indonesia Fintech Summit. Zhao stated that the incident with FTX was disastrous for the sector and significantly undermined customers’ confidence.

“I believe that we have essentially taken a couple of years back. Regulators will examine this industry much more closely going forward, which is probably for the best, to be honest”, says Zhao during the interview.

Zhao also highlighted that while retail investors may experience a setback in the short term due to the collapse of FTX, he believes that debates about how to manage risks throughout the crypto ecosystem should start now to avoid similar occurrences.

A Call to Action for Crypto Exchanges

In the midst of the ongoing saga with FTX, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a US government agency burdened with the responsibility of preserving the financial industry, has issued a warning letter to five crypto companies to stop making false claims about their customers that they are insured. The erring companies include FTX US, Cryptonews.com, Cryptosec.info, SmartAsset.com, and FDICCrypto.com.

The FDIC’s letter highlighted a tweet from FTX.US regarding the situation where the President of FTX.US, Brett Harrison, stated that “direct contributions from employers to FTX and stocks are stored in FDIC-insured accounts.”

FTX.US and SmartAsset.com responded to the letter by saying that they have removed the content from their online platforms.

In a bid to ensure safety in the crypto space, Cyprus officials are reportedly about to suspend the FTX’s European license due to its recent instability.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : Binance / Changpeng Zhao / Crypto / FTX / Industry Expert

Binance to Acquire FTX Global Amid Broader Market FUD

by Blockchain NewsNovember 8, 2022

Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao has just made a revelation that it is looking at acquiring FTX Global, based on a prompting from the exchange for liquidity bailout.

FTX Derivatives Exchange is making the headlines today for the wrong reasons and one such is that the platform has halted trading activities for users. Drawing on its own analytics, The Block first reported the transaction halt, pointing out that the last time the trading platform stopped processing withdrawals the last transaction was at 06:37 ET (11:37 GMT) on the Ethereum blockchain.

Raging FUD on FTX Ecosystem

The entire Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubts had been detailed by Blockchain.News in previous reports but essential entails the hyperinflation of the exchange’s native token FTT as shown in the leaked Alameda Research balance sheet.

It was also alleged that FTX is reputable for lobbying against other industry participants, a move Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao pointed out in a recent tweet promising to sell over $600 million worth of FTT tokens in his exchange’s vault.

The situation degenerated and FTX users started withdrawing their funds from the trading platform with a corresponding dump off of FTT which has slumped by 19.04% to $18.50 over the past 24 hours.

As predicted by a number of analysts, the withdrawal halt might have been fueled as a result of the bank run placed on the exchange platform.

Moving Forward: The Binance-FTX Settlement

While its details remain unknown, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has come out to announce that his platform and Binance have inked a strategic agreement with Binance.

After having revealed that a competitor is likely spreading false rumors about its operations, Bankman-Fried acknowledged the role of Binance in the ecosystem. In a later tweet, CZ confirmed that Binance will be buying FTX Global and will be making due diligence on the deal in due course.

CZ noted that nothing is final yet and Binance can still decide to pull out of the deal at any time. The industry was riled by these latest updates with the combined crypto market cap dropping 2.33% to $1.01 trillion.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : Binance / Changpeng Zhao / Exchanges / FTX GLOBAL / Sam Bankman-Fried

Binance Identifying Hackers behind $570m Crypto Exploit, Says CZ

by Blockchain NewsOctober 25, 2022

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on Monday told CNBC media that the cryptocurrency exchange is getting closer to identify the identity of a hacker or hackers who organized a $570 million hack on its BNB blockchain early this month.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday, Zhao said after obtaining some tips from law enforcement agencies on who the hacker(s) might be, Binance is now “narrowing down” the person or persons who facilitated the attack.

The attack occurred on a cross-chain bridge where users transfer digital assets from one blockchain to another, allowing the unknown hacker or hackers to make a withdrawal of 2 million of Binance’s BNB tokens worth around $570 million at that time.

Zhao said, “We’re still actually chasing … helping [authorities] to chase the bad players, working with law enforcement around the globe. Working with law enforcement is one of the ways that we can try to make the space safe.”

The CEO said law enforcements have given Binance some tips regarding who they think might be behind the attack, and now the exchange is “narrowing down.”

On October 7, a cross-chain bridge linking with BNB Chain (Binance Chain) was attacked, enabling hackers to move BNB tokens off the network.

During that time, Zhao said Binance intervened to limit the damage of the attack, suspending all transaction processing activities on its BNB Chain blockchain network after coordinating with network validators — entities or individuals who confirm transactions on the blockchain.

Zhao said with the intervention, BNB Chain was able to prevent most of the targeted funds from being stolen by the hacker. “The blockchain was able to freeze about 80% to 90% of it, so the actual loss of it was much smaller,” the CEO said.

The firm coordinated with BNB Chain validators to enact an upgrade. And that meant that the majority of the funds remained in the exploiter’s crypto wallet, while around $100 million was unrecovered.

The Binance hack was the latest in a string of major attacks targeting cross-chain bridges. According to Chainalysis blockchain analytics company, approximately $1.4 billion has been stolen due to cross-chain bridges since the beginning of 2022.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : Binance / Bnb / Changpeng Zhao / Crypto / Cybersecurity / Cz / Hackers

Binance Is Profiling Identities of Hackers behind $570m Crypto Exploit, Says CZ

by Blockchain NewsOctober 25, 2022

The CEO said law enforcements have given Binance some tips regarding who they think might be behind the attack, and now the exchange is “narrowing down.”

On October 7, a cross-chain bridge linking with BNB Chain (Binance Chain) was attacked, enabling hackers to move BNB tokens off the network.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : Binance / Bnb / Changpeng Zhao / Crypto / Cybersecurity / Cz / Hackers

Binance CEO Estimates that the Firm May Spend Over $1B on Deals by the End of 2022

by Blockchain NewsOctober 8, 2022

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of global leading digital-asset platform Binance has announced that the firm may spend more than $1 billion on investment by the end of 2022.

Zhao, also known as ‘CZ’ made this revelation in an interview with Blomberg and claimed that Binance could spend more than $1 billion on investments and asset purchases, despite what appears to be a volatile crypto market.

Recall that Binance has also invested $325 million in 67 additional projects in recent times. Meanwhile, the VC division of Binance has made several investments in Aptos, the firm started by former Meta employees.

While fellow crypto firm CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has embarked on purchasing assets from prominent distressed lenders, Zhao responded to a question about buying crypto lenders by saying that;

“Many of them, they just take a user’s money and give it to somebody else. There’s not a lot of intrinsic value. In that case, what’s to acquire? We want to see real products that people use.”

Binance Focuses on DeFi and NFT Protocols

Binance is focused on addressing persistent problems in the market, like regulatory tightening and software attacks. Recall that the exchange’s Binance Coin was used by online launderers to steal the equivalent of $568 million earlier this week.

The firm’s CEO claims that Binance has been investing heavily in NFT, fan tokens, and traditional payment service providers. While also stating that Binance has remained economically viable despite the prices of most digital assets being down more than 50% this year.

Again, Zhao added that Binance might venture into the acquisition of minority stakes in traditional eCommerce and gaming companies. More so, Binance has an additional $7 billion fund specifically for investing in deals, and it has a 30-plus member team focused on mergers and acquisitions and lead by its co-founder, Yi He.

The CEO reiterated that as a result of the bear market, the firm will continue to look out for other investment opportunities while taking cognizance of the risk and pain involved.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : Binance / BINANCE LABS / Changpeng Zhao / Industry Expert / Investments

Binance Exchange Inaugurates Global Advisory Board under Compliance Drive

by Blockchain NewsSeptember 23, 2022

Binance Exchange, through its Chief Executive Officer, Changpeng Zhao has announced the establishment of its Global Advisory Board (GAB) as it looks to deepen its regulatory compliance in the region where it operates.

The total number of experts in the GAB is 12, including ‘CZ’ himself, as Zhao is popularly called on Social Media. According to CZ, the establishment of the Binance Global Advisory Board is highly needed as the experts will contribute deep insights that can help Binance navigate current economic, political, and social concerns bordering on the exchange’s core business pursuit.

Changpeng Zhao said Binance shares the vision to make money accessible to everyone, and that it is committed to doing this by embracing the right regulations.

“We embrace the responsibility to lead the industry from the front and support regulators as they seek to establish a global regulatory and compliance framework for the industry. The right regulations will foster continued technological innovation,” Changpeng Zhao said, adding that:

“They will preserve crypto’s fundamental value propositions of freedom and empowerment while ensuring the right guardrails are in place that provides consumer protection. The Binance GAB will help us continue to demonstrate to the world exactly what our organization is capable of and set a shining example for the blockchain industry.”

The advisory board members will help chart the way forward for the exchange in light of its vision to be in tandem with the right regulations in its key market.

Composition of the Binance Global Advisory Board

The Binance GAB is composed of members from different parts of the world and is as diversified as possible.

The members include Max Bacus, Former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China; Former U.S. Senator Montana; Former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Bruno Bezard from France, Managing Partner of Cathay Capital; Former Economic Advisor to the French Prime Minister; Former Head of the French Treasury; Former CEO of the French Government Shareholding Agency.

One major highlight of the board is the inclusion of Ibukun Awosika from Nigeria. Awosika served as the first female Chairman of the First Bank of Nigeria, Founder and Member G7 International Task Force for impact investing.

With the establishment of the GAB, Binance hopes to play a more frontline role in pushing for regulatory clarity in the broader digital currency ecosystem.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : Binance / Changpeng Zhao / Compliance / Cz / Exchanges / GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD