Binance, the international crypto exchange giant, has been under scrutiny by regulators in recent years and is reportedly willing to reach a settlement. This week, Reuters released a report claiming that Binance transferred $400 million from a Binance.US bank account at Silvergate to a trading firm called Merit Peak in the first quarter of 2021. Binance.US, however, refuted the report, saying that only executives of the platform had access to its bank accounts and that Merit Peak had stopped operating on the platform in 2021.
The report also stated that people at the helm of affairs at Binance.US were unaware of the transfers, and Silvergate Bank is currently facing a regulatory probe for its dealings with bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Merit Peak was also reportedly under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its ties to Binance.
Binance has always maintained that Binance.US is an independent entity of the international platform, and Reuters could not determine whether the money in question belonged to Binance.US customers. Binance.US has also stressed that it has never – and will never – trade or lend out customer funds and is subject to regular audits and regulatory reporting by government entities.
