Binance CEO ‘CZ’ Calls Severing U.S Ties Report as False

• The report claims that Binance is contemplating severing connections with its U.S. partners.
•  Kraken was forced to stop down its staking offering in the U.S. and pay a $30M penalty.

The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, called a Bloomberg report that the cryptocurrency exchange was contemplating delisting all U.S.-based cryptocurrencies “false” on Friday. Citing a source with knowledge of the situation, the report claims that Binance is contemplating severing connections with its U.S. business partners after experiencing difficulties in its dealings with a major banking partner and stablecoin issuer due to increased regulatory scrutiny.

CZ further stated:

“We pulled back on some potential investments, or bids on bankrupt companies in the U.S. for now. Seek permission first.”

On Thursday, however, Reuters revealed that Binance had secretly moved $400 million from a bank account belonging to its U.S. partner to Merit Peak Ltd, a trading entity run by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. According to the article, the business is also reviewing its previous venture capital investments made in the US. Binance said earlier this month that it will temporarily halt user bank transactions in U.S. dollars.

Increased Scrutiny by Authorities

Moreover, this week, Binance’s stablecoin, Binance BUSD (issued by Paxos) came under fire from the New York Department of Financial Services. And also the exchange’s dealings with cryptocurrency bank Silvergate have also been investigated.

Other key industry firms imploded last year, including FTX, one of Binance’s largest competitors, which filed for bankruptcy in November. Since crypto exchange Kraken was forced to stop down its staking offering in the U.S. and pay a $30 million penalty. U.S. authorities have been taking aggressive enforcement action against crypto players, putting Binance to brace itself for SEC penalties.

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