Binance, CEO Changpeng Zhao to seek dismissal of CFTC complaint of violating Commodity Exchange Act

livemint.com:

The world's biggest crypto exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao are planning to seek the dismissal of a complaint by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The CFTC had accused Binance of violating the Commodity Exchange Act and certain related federal regulations.

The CFTC in March had sued Binance and Zhao for operating what the regulator alleged was an "illegal" exchange and a "sham" compliance program.

The company's court filing showed Binance is due to submit its response to the CFTC complaint on July 27 and plans to seek dismissal.

The CFTC had said that from at least July 2019 to the present, Binance "offered and executed commodity derivatives transactions on behalf of U.S. persons" in violation of U.S. laws.

Binance and Zhao were also sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June for allegedly operating a "web of deception," listing 13 charges against Binance, Zhao and the operator of its purportedly independent U.S. exchange.

Binance is also under investigation by the Justice Department for suspected money laundering and sanctions violations.

Binance faces a web of regulatory probes around the world as well as a decline in its market share of spot digital-asset trading volumes. 

Earlier in July, billionaire Zhao sought to counter concerns about the platform’s outlook following the exits of executives who had been helping the company navigate a widening regulatory crisis.

BNB, the native token of Binance, fell about 2% as of 9:08 a.m. in Singapore on Tuesday to trade at around $238. BNB has shed some 2.5% this year, compared with a gain of 45% in a gauge of the biggest 100 tokens. The success of BNB and Binance are often seen as intertwined.

(With inputs from agencies)