Binance under investigation

[fiulpro]

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is under investigation by a laundry list of US government agencies, including the US Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to a report by Bloomberg. The agencies are probing Binance for potential criminal violations, the report says, though the company has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The investigations come on the heels of a report by Chainalysis that traced $2.8 billion worth of illicit bitcoin on exchange and trading platforms. Of that, $756 million went through Binance. Most of the suspect accounts received small amounts, but the majority of the illicit cryptocurrency flowed to a few hundred accounts that received between $100,000 to $100 million. Government officials are said to be focused on money laundering and tax evasion.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/binance-the-biggest-cryptocurrency-exchange-reportedly-under-investigation/

Apparently Binance is under investigation, not by one but many sections of the government.
They are mainly focused on :
•Tax frauds
•Money laundering
Now the government is going to take strict actions against all the people who were involved, especially the trading platform, if found guilty. They have already said that 756 million dollars went through binance.  Which is actually a big amount. Now should the people be held liable or the trading platform?
- Ofc some of it might have been the mistake of binance also but at the same time as we all know it's super secure and needs a lot of documents, identification which gets verified after a while. Which does mean that if the people had valid documents .. would it still be okay to blame binance?
It's world's biggest and most trusted trading platform. I for sure hope that they are able to provide a reliable reason so as to why all the wallets transactions were not properly monitored and at the same time how could such frauds remain unnoticed?
-Well binance is going a lil slow since some of my friends tried signing up and they said it would take much longer than usual.. due to huge trading volumes. But who knows ? Maybe they are just struggling with investigations.

What do you think ?
This could be a big deal.
Would it drive the price down ?

I think it could have a bit of influence on some particular Cryptos which are not listed everywhere. For example Shiba is still being listed but slowly. Therefore it might cause a decrease in Price of such cryptocurrencies if there are some problems.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

What do you think ?
This could be a big deal.
Would it drive the price down ?

Yeah, I saw a Youtube news video about this today.  I also heard that the oil pipeline hackers did indeed ask for crypto (presumably bitcoin, though it wasn't stated explicitly), and that makes me think that the hack is partially responsible for this so-called crackdown on crypto and the investigation of Binance.  The government has to look like it's doing something, even if what they're doing is a waste of time.

Do I think this is going to drive the price of bitcon down?  No, probably not.  Bitcoin is resilient and has thrived in the face of bigger debacles.

I also don't think it's going to affect Binance's business all that much, since they're global.  If the US government bans them from servicing US customers, that might hurt a little, but they'd survive and keep going.  But I don't think that's going to happen anyway.  Should be interesting to see what the outcome of this is.

[fr4nkthetank]

meh, chainanalysis is a hot heap of garbage.  Their website says : "Building Trust in Blockchain".  Blockchain/Bitcoin solves the 3rd party Trust problem, ironic no?  Seems like they want big gov contracts to me.  They just got 100 million in financing.  I dont like Binance but I like chainanalysis even less.

[dothebeats]

Binance would be completely fine and I don't think they will ever be accountable for something in here. The investigation is done just so the gov't can make a front that they're up to something, or that the tax dollars are at work. Also, Chainalysis isn't really doing anyone favors except for themselves. We all know that binance is a hotbed for most cryptocurrency trades right now, and linking those 'transactions' to Binance's platform is just insane. Why would a platform be held responsible if they received tainted coins? For the tax evasion case, we don't know until the investigation ends. But for now, Chainalysis linking things to Binance is just absurd.

[Hydrogen]

Haven't we seen this piece of history from bitfinex/tether "investigations" in 2017.

As well as false stories of binance offices in shanghai being "raided" in 2019.

Binance on the run after China raids Shanghai offices

https://coingeek.com/binance-on-the-run-after-china-raids-shanghai-offices/

For some strange reason, people don't seem to remember things that happened only a few years ago.

Its hard to discuss topics, when history and recent events are forgotten.

[GeorgeJohn]

Binance is very big and i dont think it will be very easy for those people that is against binance because of cryptocurrency to get it down, since some countries rise against cryptocurrency and their no succeeding to bring crypto world down, it's obvious that no amount of investigation government can carry on to bring binance down, i only seeing this like something that will make crypto more stronger in time coming.

[Rikafip]

Same old same old, there is always some investigation going on, whether its Bitfinex/Tether, now Binance etc.

I think that this ongoing Binance investigation will lead to a dead end, as many other similar before and nothing significant will happen. But even if it does, I don't thik that it would affect Bitcoin much and even if it did, it would be just temporary. On the other hand, shitcoins like that SHIBA you mentioned (and many others) that are listed there would definitely tale some serious beating.

[slapper]

I also noticed the news yesterday. However, it is not a big deal, IMO. Since the day bitcoin was created, we have faced numerous issues regard to exchanges, brokers, and crypto financial advisors. There are scam exchanges, strict or even ban regulations but bitcoin continues to grow and even stronger. In the past when people believed that bitcoin were going to die, it would challenge the monetary system as well as haters' bias

 I know that binance is a big exchange and because it is big, CZ knows how to handle such a problem as this. This man always knows how to fix things and calm the community. Contributing everything to the crypto community is what he is perfect in. Thus, binance will easily reach a compromise with the US government with the magic hands of CZ

[oHnK]

The biggest crypto industry in my opinion is on Binance, but I still firmly believe that Binance's management is not that easy to destroy the industry that has given them huge profits.  In my opinion, if Binance is to receive a harsh penalty then this will have a huge impact on the market.  Because fear and high risk will make investors rethink investing in crypto.  Binance, which is the largest company, cannot be trusted, let alone any other exchange.

[iamsheikhadil]

In my opinion, we can't really blame Binance. The crypto world is very complicated and its anonymous features and system is very weird as compared to modern payment systems that uses fiat etc, hence Binance can only put a limited effort to curb the corruption and money snuggling, and it does everything that can be possible to prevent crimes. Whenever something bad goes, the government instead of trying to catch the criminals, chase after soft targets just to satisfy their ego

[BrewMaster]

it is bound to happen. when these exchanges keep reporting ridiculously huge daily volumes (whether truthfully or fake volume) they are bound to attract the attention of the government. we are talking about billions of dollars after all. best case scenario is very strict regulations and even more KYC demands from this exchange on its users and a lot of user accounts closed down as the consequence.

it seems like the altcoin market should have a purge like this every couple of years. there is always a huge exchange on top of the list which goes under and another replaces it.

[hulla]

Yes, it will drive the price of the market down cause alot of traders will choose to move their trading holding out of exchange while some will decide to sell for stable coin before they move theirs and alot of trading platform will be extra careful this day. Besides, i saw an article that says Tether publicly provided their reserved holding for the first time though I don't read the article but i believe the IRS investigation about Binance is what causes it.

This will be a big deal for centralized exchange that are guilty but won't for those that are not.

[jaysabi]

meh, chainanalysis is a hot heap of garbage.  Their website says : "Building Trust in Blockchain".  Blockchain/Bitcoin solves the 3rd party Trust problem, ironic no?  Seems like they want big gov contracts to me.  They just got 100 million in financing.  I dont like Binance but I like chainanalysis even less.

Just because the blockchain is public doesn't mean it's transparent.  Have you ever tried to to trace bitcoin to see where it originates from?  It's impossible.  Chainanalysis offers services that do that, which is going to be ever more important as crypto becomes more mainstream and you have to verify that you as a business are not unwittingly abetting money laundering by dealing in crypto.

[Twinkledoe]

meh, chainanalysis is a hot heap of garbage.  Their website says : "Building Trust in Blockchain".  Blockchain/Bitcoin solves the 3rd party Trust problem, ironic no?  Seems like they want big gov contracts to me.  They just got 100 million in financing.  I dont like Binance but I like chainanalysis even less.

Just because the blockchain is public doesn't mean it's transparent.  Have you ever tried to to trace bitcoin to see where it originates from?  It's impossible.  Chainanalysis offers services that do that, which is going to be ever more important as crypto becomes more mainstream and you have to verify that you as a business are not unwittingly abetting money laundering by dealing in crypto.

If this investigation is true, I believe, Binance is already doing their job to defend themselves in case this situation goes to another level. Also, I think, most of crypto-exchanges are guilty of receiving some illegal crypto coins at one point as it is indeed hard to trace where coins are coming from, especially those that don't require KYC for certain levels. If they will investigate Binance, they should investigate all the other crypto exchanges as well. Binance may be at the hot seat as they are the number 1 exchange and earning very good amount of money.

[electronicash]

meh, chainanalysis is a hot heap of garbage.  Their website says : "Building Trust in Blockchain".  Blockchain/Bitcoin solves the 3rd party Trust problem, ironic no?  Seems like they want big gov contracts to me.  They just got 100 million in financing.  I dont like Binance but I like chainanalysis even less.

Just because the blockchain is public doesn't mean it's transparent.  Have you ever tried to to trace bitcoin to see where it originates from?  It's impossible.  Chainanalysis offers services that do that, which is going to be ever more important as crypto becomes more mainstream and you have to verify that you as a business are not unwittingly abetting money laundering by dealing in crypto.

If this investigation is true, I believe, Binance is already doing their job to defend themselves in case this situation goes to another level. Also, I think, most of crypto-exchanges are guilty of receiving some illegal crypto coins at one point as it is indeed hard to trace where coins are coming from, especially those that don't require KYC for certain levels. If they will investigate Binance, they should investigate all the other crypto exchanges as well. Binance may be at the hot seat as they are the number 1 exchange and earning very good amount of money.

like coinbase? the ones that US government can chase after, they will investigate them. binance is known to follow obligations, if subjected to an investigation they will provide data. i doubt someone in binance.us will make big transactions enough for investigation. if you are to launder big amounts, you're not going in this exchange.

an investigation is a good story if they just publicly tell the truth of what they discover and reveal wallet addresses, they'd find more useful information to find out when users in the forum track these wallets.

[TheMimic1]

This is going to be a thing of the past, binance of all crypto exchange? Nah this is going to be forgetten real fast because I believe the exchange is clean, whatever fraud that may have happened has nothing to do with binance and it's team, I haven't seen an exchange that cares more about it's REP like binance exchange

[o48o]

Interesting for whom? For the OP? Or for everyone? Binance is one of the most unreliable trading platforms out there. Yes, they do not steal your money in an impudent way, but there are a bunch of manipulative tools through which money is siphoned from the clients of the exchange. These are strange candle wicks, according to which stop-losses or liquidations are triggered for many, and token manipulation. Let's remember their scam with FTX, BEAR / BULL tokens, and forced closing of margin positions, moreover, profitable ones, is this normal? Without explaining the reasons, they just took it and forcibly closed it with a minimum profit.

Ok i am not a biggest fan of Binance and they probably do manipulate some numbers by "accident" but i have to defend them too.

Strange wicks happen because of lack of liquidity and they are in everywhere. Market manipulators work in several exchanges that they could profit from, not just in Binance and one of their main goal is to trigger stop losses so they can make huge moves. It doesn't mean that the Exchange tries to move markets actively. And in case of Binance, they would be risking their future as a top exchange for something they don't need to do. Also we don't have actual evidence that anything they do is a scam so it's pointless to claim so.

Also, do not forget the manipulations with CoinMarketCap, which CZ bought for a reason, but in order to twist the numbers where necessary. I think that, despite the ban on the Americans from using this exchange, they still trade there, because most of the money that BitMEX lost due to the proceedings related to the trading of American residents on the platform, it migrated to Binance. And since these were mainly market makers, and not simple retailers, I think that CZ covers them for a part of the profit from their activities.

Therefore, this is such a dump, is there any way to dig deeper, a lot of interesting and shocking things will become clear.

Do you remember how much more useless the coinmarket was? It kept advertising Bitconnect even when explained it was a scam. Faked volume without ANY liquidity could put your exchanges to the top. Coinbase GUI and fixes they have done to it overall have made it much more approachable. Rest of your sentence is just guesswork.

[Jawhead999]

-snip-

Just because the blockchain is public doesn't mean it's transparent.  Have you ever tried to to trace bitcoin to see where it originates from?  It's impossible. Chainanalysis offers services that do that

This site is working like chainanalysis and it's free you don't need to pay anything https://www.walletexplorer.com/info

Even though it's not 100% accurate but it help you to find where the coins belongs to.

If the transaction is using a mixer, than it's will untrackable since you'll find many small input and random address were come from your transaction. It will be hard to CZ to explain those transaction to SEC as they will assume it as money laundry.

[Bitstar_coin]

Maybe if binance is found guilty and probably got shot down by the government there won't be anymore manipulation in crypto, everything will be fine and things will go smoothly, from all I read, it seems binance is the only exchange involved in this type of accusation  ,  unfortunately binance have many users that will be affected if things go bad.

[DigitalFox]

Oh yes, but the fact that they recently put some paid project on the first place in the rating is normal, right?



But this shameful manipulation of the DeFi token rating, is it also for the benefit of the service?

I don't have an account on CMC to check my thoughts, but on that screenshot the coin you're talking about is marked as favorite - this could be the reason for it to be on top.