© Reuters
By Ana Beatriz Bartolo
Investing.com – Binance has spoken out on its blog against what it called a “false narrative” regarding the use of cryptoassets for money laundering. The cryptocurrency broker reinforced that this idea would be a myth, which would be used by “parties interested in spreading misinformation or deliberately misleading the general public”.
This text follows recent reports concerning Binance, including a Reuters article claiming that the brokerage company had processed transactions for a total amount of at least $ 2.4 billion from hacks, investment fraud and illegal online drug sales, and that she had helped the Russian secret service investigate donations made to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Along with denying all accusations, Binance also said the latest texts “jumped to conclusions and relied on bad data that could have been verified by contacting one of the leading on-chain analyst firms, such as Chainalysis or TRM.”
Regarding the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering, Binance indicates that according to Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis company specializing in the analysis of cryptocurrencies and blockchains, on all transactions carried out with of cryptocurrencies in 2021, 0.15% were associated with some illicit activity.
This figure would be much lower than that of fiat currency, of which, according to the UN, something between 2 and 5% of traditional currencies are linked to something illegal. “Cryptocurrencies are incredibly transparent, infinitely more so than traditional monetary economics, and this is well documented,” Binance writes on its blog.
Binance also defended itself by saying that the crypto-asset industry is still new and that, like regulators, they are still working to define a regulatory and appropriate framework for the sector.
Regarding the texts from Reuters, the cryptocurrency broker said it would not discuss the matter on the blog. However, Binance decided to publicly expose its emails exchanged with the news agency, in order to prove that the journalism company would have refused to accept the consultation offered by Binance to clarify the portfolios analyzed by Reuters journalists. Emails can be checked here.
Problems with the SEC
On Tuesday, Binance was also embroiled in an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US regulator equivalent to Brazil’s CVM. The origins of Binance Holdings and its are under investigation to determine whether the company violated market rules during its 2017 initial coin offering (ICO).
The investigation seeks to understand whether the ICO represented the sale of a security that should have been registered with the SEC.
Under a 1946 U.S. Supreme Court decision on investment contracts, a virtual currency may fall within the jurisdiction of the SEC if purchased to fund a business or project with the intent of profit from this transaction.
In a statement, Binance said that “it would be inappropriate for us to comment on our ongoing conversations with regulators, which include education, assistance, and voluntary responses to information requests,” but said that ” we will continue to comply with all requirements set out by regulators.”