Binance Accused of Co-Mingling Customer Funds With Company Revenue
"Hello friends. Well, this morning as I was prepping the show, news broke from Reuters. Walter Bloomberg on Twitter said, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance co -mingled customer funds with company revenue in 2020 and 2021. In breach of U .S. financial rules that require customer money to be keep separate, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. So let's go through this, let's try to get a sense of how serious this is, let's see if there is another Sam -type situation on our hands. First, let's talk the accusation. Well, it's pretty much right there in the headline, Binance co -mingling customer funds with company revenue in 2020 and 2021, the sourcing, three sources familiar with the matter and Reuters, but let's try to get a few more details. From the Reuters piece, quote, one of the sources, a person with direct knowledge of Binance Group's finances, said the sums ran into billions of dollars and co -mingling happened almost daily in accounts the exchange held at U .S. lender Silvergate Bank. Reuters couldn't independently verify the figures or the frequency, but the news agency reviewed a bank record showing that on February 10th, 2021, Binance mixed $20 million from a corporate account with $15 million from an account that received customer money. Reuters found no evidence that Binance client monies were lost or taken. So there's a bunch that's important here. One is that Reuters couldn't verify the figures in total and that they really only had this one particular bank record showing a mixing. Now, what did Binance say? Well, in a statement to Reuters, they obviously denied this. Spokesperson Brad Jaff said, these accounts were not used to accept user deposits. They were used to facilitate user purchases. There was no co -mingling at any time because these are 100 % corporate accounts. Reuters goes on.
$ 15 Million
$ 20 Million
100 %
2020
2021
Binance
Binance Group 'S
Brad Jaff
February 10Th , 2021
First
ONE
Reuters
SAM
Silvergate Bank
U . S.
Walter Bloomberg
Almost Daily
Billions Of Dollars
This Morning
Three