US CFTC civil complaint 'unexpected & disappointing': Binance CEO

San Francisco, March 28

Leading crypto platform Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) on Tuesday said the civil complaint filed by the US Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) against them is "unexpected and disappointing".

The US regulators on Monday sued the leading blockchain and cryptocurrency for allegedly breaking trading and derivatives rules.

In a statement, CZ said that they have been working cooperatively with the CFTC for over two years.

"Upon an initial review, the complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts, and we do not agree with the characterisation of many of the issues alleged in the complaint," the Binance CEO said.

His response came after the CFTC alleged that the crypto exchange has never registered with it and has "disregarded federal laws" that govern US financial markets, including laws designed to prevent and detect money laundering and terrorism financing.

Zhao said that Binance.com has developed best-in-class technology to ensure compliance.

"We are aware of no other company using systems more comprehensive or more effective than Binance. We are committed to transparency and cooperation with regulators and law enforcement, in the US and globally," the CEO informed.

Binance said it currently has more than 750 people in its compliance teams, many with prior law enforcement and regulatory agency backgrounds.

"I never participated in Binance Launchpad, Earn, Margin, or Futures. I know the best use of my time is to build a solid platform that services our users," said Zhao, adding that the company will only be able to give full responses to the CFTC civil complaint in due time.

The CFTC alleged that the company's monthly revenue earned $1.14 billion from derivatives transactions in May 2021, up from $63 million in August 2020, and of that amount, around 16 per cent of Binance's accounts were held by US customers.

The filing also stated that Zhao and other involved parties in Binance's senior management have "failed to properly supervise Binance's activities and activities and, indeed, have actively facilitated violations of US law".

Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, with around $9 billion in trading activity in the last 24 hours and over 90 million customers worldwide.