“When bribes are made in cash, the problem is the bribes; when bribes are made in cryptocurrency, the problem is the cryptocurrency,” Changpeng Zhao wrote on Twitter.
Last week, the Binance administration filed a petition in a U.S. district court as part of its proceedings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), insisting that it violated the Securities Act. However, the district judge did not consider the claim of Binance, and immediately dismissed the petition. The judge explained this decision by saying there was no need to reiterate the ethics obligations of both sides, because it does not affect the case.
EU authorities have recently become suspicious that Binance subsidiaries in Ireland and Malta may be operating illegally. In particular, investigators fear that Binance may be faking its accounts and transactions, as well as commingling revenues from different countries to avoid raising questions from regulators and tax authorities. The exchange is also suspected of money laundering and tax evasion.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) searched Binance’s offices this Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange’s activities in the country. Binance, for its part, said it is “working with local authorities” and is “focused on meeting local regulatory standards in order to serve users in Australia in full compliance with them.”