Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is speaking out on recent allegations in the media, saying that the exchange is being targeted with inaccurate and sometimes unethical reporting.
In a new company blog post, CZ responds to a Reuters story published today that alleges the company has been dodging regulators in the US and UK.
Zhao says that Reuters probed Binance prior to the story, and while CZ is happy to answer questions, the crypto billionaire says that the reporters signaled an attempt to report on his family and personal life.
The CEO also addresses claims from the media that the exchange is dodging regulators by not publicizing the exact addresses of all their offices.
“We are careful when disclosing office locations, wearing Binance branding, or representing ourselves as Binance employees for security purposes. I want to keep our employees safe. However, regulators in each jurisdiction where we operate have our local address and contact details on file and we have announced major offices in Paris and Dubai.
We have also set up a special part of the Binance website specifically for law enforcement.”
On claims that Binance has facilitated money laundering, CZ says such allegations are false, and would be nearly insignificant even if true due to the massive amounts of volume that the exchange does.
“There is a big myth about crypto being a tool for criminals. Reuters has reported that Binance had been used as a conduit for the laundering of at least $2.35 billion in criminal funds but failed to provide any details of how that number is calculated and note the fact this represents less than 0.1% of total funds that have flowed through Binance since 2019.
Despite Reuters’ number being grossly overstated, it would still indicate that Binance is one of the most effective financial institutions in keeping illicit funds off its platform. We have zero tolerance for criminal activity.”
In June, Reuters published an article speculating that Binance had failed to do its part in combating crypto-related crime and fraud after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it would be investigating the firm for potential insider trading and other allegations.
Binance denied those claims, and also published a full chain of emails between it and Reuters in an effort to give the public an opportunity to scrutinize Reuters’ framing of the correspondence.
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