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By Mat Di Salvo
Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao. Image: Decrypt
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has spoken out regarding news reports that the company will cut ties with U.S. crypto projects.
In a tweet Friday, Zhao—better known as CZ—wrote “False” in response to a post claiming that Binance was considering “delisting all U.S.-based cryptocurrencies.”
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He then added that “blockchain has no borders” when someone asked what a “U.S.-based token” even was.
The post was referring to a Friday Bloomberg report which claimed that Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, was thinking about ending relationships with U.S. business partners such as banks and intermediary firms.
Such entities help customers buy and sell digital assets with fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar.
Bloomberg added in the report that the exchange was thinking of scrapping tokens such as USD Coin (USDC)—which is run from the States by Circle and Binance’s primary competitor, Coinbase.
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The news comes as U.S. regulators turn up the heat on Binance and the crypto industry.
Just this week, news dropped that Binance would likely pay fines to settle SEC investigations. The regulatory body is investigating the exchange, as is the Justice Department, over potential violations of U.S. anti-money-laundering laws.
Binance doesn’t provide services to Americans but has a sister company called Binance US, which the global company insists is run independently.
Yesterday, a Reuters report claimed that around $400 million in cash from Binance US mysteriously flowed to a trading firm managed by CZ in early 2021, once again raising suspicions regarding the American company’s independence.
According to Reuters, then-Binance US CEO Catherine Coley called the transfers “unexpected” at the time and asked for an explanation. Coley would leave her role as CEO months later. Former Coinbase General Counsel Brian Brooks, who was at one point the top banking regulator in the U.S. as Acting Comptroller of the Currency, took over as Binance US CEO after Coley—only to leave three months later citing a lack of independence from CZ, according to reports.
Binance US yesterday said on Twitter that its business was operating legitimately and could not be compared to other crypto companies that have gone bust recently, alluding to the spectacular collapse of former rival FTX in November.
Binance CEO CZ on Crypto Bailouts and the Deals He Would Not Do
In an interview for Decrypt's gm podcast, CZ laid out Binance's approach to "bailouts" amid the crypto liquidity crunch, and criticized Alameda's complicated lifeline to Voyager.
“There have been many attempts to draw parallels between Binance US and fraudulent exchanges that have gone bankrupt,” the tweet read. “The real facts speak for themselves: there is no comparison.”
