Binance US Suspends Trading Amid CFTC Investigation: What You Need to Know
• Binance US, a US-based subsidiary of the cryptocurrency exchange, has temporarily suspended trading for stablecoin pairs involving BUSD due to an ongoing investigation by the CFTC.
• The suspension includes crypto deposits and withdrawals, buying, selling, and converting crypto options.
• The CFTC filed a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao alleging trading violations and failure to register with the regulator.
Binance US Temporarily Suspends Trading For Stablecoin Pairs
Binance.US has announced it had temporarily suspended trading for stablecoin pairs involving BUSD through One Common Billing System (OCBS). This decision was made due to an ongoing investigation by the Commodity Futures Commission (CFTC) into potential violations committed by the exchange. The services that have been suspended include crypto deposits and withdrawals, buying, selling, and converting crypto options.
CFTC Lawsuit Alleges Compliance Obligations Were Not Met
The CFTC filed a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on March 27th alleging trading violations. The suit claims that the exchange did not meet compliance obligations including failure to register with the regulator. Additionally, it is accused of instructing customers to circumvent compliance controls in order to maximize profits. In response to these allegations CZ denied them in a blog post stating that there was an “incomplete recitation of facts” in the complaint filed by the CFTC.
Banking Crisis Causes Uncertainty And Affects Operations
The current global banking crisis has caused uncertainty which subsequently affected operations at Binance US as they recently halted specific U.S dollar deposit services as well as temporarily suspending Apple Pay and Google Pay deposits for reasons related to their company.
Investigation Is Ongoing
The exchange has confirmed on its status dashboard that it is investigating this situation further and all services will remain suspended until further notice while transitioning to new banking and payment service providers over the next several weeks.
Conclusion
The temporary suspension of services at Binance US is yet another example of how cryptocurrency markets are being regulated more closely than ever before as regulators are becoming more aware of potential risks associated with digital assets such as money laundering or fraud schemes like pump-and-dump activities.
