Binance står over for juridisk kamp, ​​da den amerikanske regulator gør sig klar til at rumle

Binance står over for juridisk kamp, ​​da den amerikanske regulator gør sig klar til at rumle

Tidsstempel: 29. marts 2023 kl. 7:03

I dette nummer

  1. Binance: I kajen
  2. Do Kwon: Journey's end
  3. Hongkong-krypto: statssanktioneret

Fra redaktørens skrivebord

Kære læser,

Det er en sjælden ting, når virksomhedernes talsmænd siger meget, der kunne betragtes som interessant, endsige afslørende. Alligevel er det netop, hvad Binances kommunikationsfolk har gjort efter nyheden om, at verdens største kryptovalutabørs bliver sagsøgt for angiveligt at bryde amerikansk lov.

I en erklæring som svar på den retssag, som US Commodity Futures and Trading Commission har anlagt mod Binance og dets medstifter, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, på grund af påståede brud på Commodity Exchange Act og CFTC-reglerne, opfordrede virksomheden til udvikling af en "klart, gennemtænkt reguleringsregime."

Så langt, så intetsigende, ikke? Måske. Men i verdens uden tvivl mest retssagsbehandlede land må loven ikke være noget, hvis ikke klart. Og når det kommer til finansiering i hjemmet til verdens dybeste og mest likvide kapitalmarkeder, bliver tingene ikke meget mere krystal end reglerne og reglerne. 

Og som det sker, kommer dette i samme uge, som et andet amerikansk agentur, Securities and Exchange Commission, indgav en Wells-meddelelse til kryptobørsen Coinbase, hvilket signalerede, at håndhævelsesforanstaltninger er på vej. Coinbase er apoplektisk, og dens frustration opsummeres ganske enkelt i et tweet udsendt af dets juridiske chef, Paul Grewal, som sagde: "Efter flere års bedt om rimelige kryptoregler, er vi skuffede over, at SEC overvejer domstole over konstruktiv dialog ."    

Binances opfordring til regulatorisk klarhed er uangribelig, ligesom Coinbase er, og det er repræsentativt for et synspunkt, der deles på tværs af resten af ​​kryptoindustrien, mens det kæmper for at komme ud af skyggen af ​​sidste års traumatiske buster og udblæsninger. 

Uanset om CFTC's påstande holder stik eller ej, har Binance en farverig historie, når det kommer til regulering og overholdelse. Alligevel var børsens tiltag i slutningen af ​​sidste år for at oprette en genopretningsfond for nødlidende kryptoaktiver - uenigheder om størrelsen til side - en beundringsværdig gestus, der så ud til at signalere en ny vilje fra dens side til at komme på den rigtige side af tingene. Ligesom Binances meddelelse sidste sommer om, at de ville etablere et globalt hovedkvarter og en gennemsigtig, professionel ledelsesstruktur. 

Men måske var disse alle velstrategiske træk for at imødegå potentielle tidligere fejltrin i dette spil regulatorisk skak. Og det bliver ved med at spille ud. Mange brikker er faldet. Efter den enorme følelse af forræderi, kryptoindustrien er blevet belemret af andre kryptokonge Sam Bankman-Fried, er der politisk medvind til CFTC's og SEC's handlinger i denne uge.   

Men indtil dommerens klubbe falder, ser det ud til, at kryptoindustrien er i gang med endnu mere sjælesøgning, da den søger mere robust jord. Internationalt er tilsynsmyndighederne også opmærksomme. Dette skakspil er et globalt spil, og vi afventer det næste træk.

Indtil næste gang,

Angie Lau,
Grundlægger og chefredaktør
Forkast

1. Risikovillig forretning

Binance In the dockBinance In the dock
Binances seneste problemer i USA er blot de seneste i en lang række af problemer, som børsen har haft med regulatorer rundt om i verden. Billede: Canva

Ved tallene: Binance - over 5,000% stigning i Google-søgevolumen.

US Commodity Futures Trading Commission har sagsøgt Binance, verdens største kryptobørs, og dets medstifter og administrerende direktør, Changpeng Zhao for angiveligt ulovligt at tilbyde uregistrerede kryptovalutaderivater i USA

  • CFTC indgivet a civil enforcement action on Monday accusing Binance and Zhao, also widely known as “CZ,” with alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Samuel Lim, Binance’s former chief compliance officer, was also sued for allegedly aiding and abetting Binance’s violations.
  • "Siden lanceringen af ​​sin platform i 2017 har Binance taget en kalkuleret, trinvis tilgang til at øge sin tilstedeværelse i USA på trods af offentligt at have angivet sin påståede hensigt om at 'blokere' eller 'begrænse' kunder i USA fra at få adgang til sin platform." sagde klagen.
  • Krypto-udvekslinger skal registrere sig hos CFTC, før de leverer krypto-derivattjenester i USA, men det gjorde Binance ikke. I august 2020 tjente Binance US$63 millioner i gebyrer fra derivattransaktioner, og omkring 16 % af dets konti blev holdt af kunder i USA, ifølge CFTC.
  • Binance and its staff stand accused of evading CFTC regulation on purpose through measures such as instructing U.S. customers to obscure their locations with virtual private networks and intentionally structuring their entities and transactions to avoid registration requirements, according to the CFTC.
  • Gennem retssagen søger CFTC monetære sanktioner, permanente handels- og registreringsforbud og en ordre til at forhindre Binance i at overtræde Commodity Exchange Act og CFTC-reglerne.
  • Zhao Tweetet the number “4” on Monday in response to the CFTC’s accusations, a reference to a Jan. 2 tweet in which he said “4” meant “ignore FUD” — fear, uncertainty and doubt — “fake news, attacks, etc.”
  • Binance later responded to the CFTC in a blogindlæg in which Zhao claimed the regulator’s complaint “appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts” and that Binance would “continue to respect and collaborate with U.S. and other regulators around the world.”
  • In February, Binance corporate partner Paxos Trust was ordered by U.S. authorities to stop issuing the Binance USD stablecoin after it was identified by the SEC as an unregistered security.
  • BNB, Binance’s native token, was trading at US$318.11 midweek in Asia, down more than 3% from a daily high of US$329.33 on Monday, according to data fra CoinGecko.

Forkast.Insights | Hvad betyder det?

Changpeng Zhao described the filing of a lawsuit by the CFTC against Binance as “uventede,” but the regulator has been probing his crypto exchange since 2021. 

The CFTC has been investigating whether Binance has sufficient measures in place to keep U.S. residents from buying and selling crypto derivatives. CFTC rules generally require platforms to register with it if they let Americans trade such products. Binance has, for years, seemed unwilling to comply, and the CFTC says the exchange has made millions of dollars by doing so. 

The regulator has also accused Binance of not doing enough to combat money laundering. According to CFTC’s complaint, since at least last May, Binance had not filed a single suspicious activity report in the U.S. For an industry in which such activity is rife, it seems odd that the world’s biggest exchange wouldn’t have been a conduit for at least some shady money.  

The CFTC can’t bring criminal charges against firms or seek jail time for individuals, but it can further damage the reputation of an exchange that has thus far managed to shrug off a lot of retssager samt consternation by other regulators. 

2. Tabt og fundet

Do Kwon Journey endDo Kwon Journey end
Terraform Labs medstifter Do Kwons flugt fra retfærdigheden er endelig slut, og hans juridiske problemer er lige begyndt. Billede: Woohae Cho/Bloomberg

By the numbers: Do Kwon - over 5,000% stigning i Google-søgevolumen.

Kwon Do-hyung, co-founder of collapsed Terraform Labs, has been arrested in the Balkan nation of Montenegro, more than six months after Interpol udsendte en rød meddelelse for the wanted crypto entrepreneur. Do Kwon, as he is better known, is facing multiple charges by authorities in the U.S., South Korea and Montenegro, and possible extradition.

  • Do Kwon, alongside Han Chang-jun, the former chief executive of Terra-affiliated Chai Corporation, was arrested by the police at an airport in Montenegro last Thursday, allegedly traveling on forged documents, South Korean police fortalt Forkast.
  • Both the U.S. and South Korea are seeking Do Kwon’s extradition. A court in Montenegro will hold an extradition hearing after it makes a decision on his forgery charges, according to a report by AFP. 
  • Since Do Kwon was detained, South Korean prosecutors have been making renewed efforts to arrest Terraform Labs co-founder Shin Hyun-seung, also known as Daniel Shin, according to a Bloomberg report. Shin is said to have cut ties with Do Kwon in 2020 and has been cooperating with South Korea’s investigation of the Terra-Luna collapse.

Forkast.Insights | Hvad betyder det?

Do Kwons arrestation er bemærkelsesværdig af mange grunde. Hans tilbageholdelse er ikke kun en sejr for retshåndhævelsen, men den repræsenterer en væsentlig ændring i, hvordan myndighederne betragter kryptokriminalitet. 

At the time, the collapse of Terra’s token was chalked up as indicative of the inherent flaws of algoritmiske stablecoins, and the technology was pilloried as the reason why so much money was lost. 

But thanks to the persistent efforts of law enforcement agencies, that narrative is now changing. One part of the history being rewritten concerns the role FTX and affiliated companies may have played in breaking the Terra-Luna relationship for profit. 

The other, and the reason for Do Kwon’s arrest, is how he and others allegedly managed to siphon billions of dollars from investors while propping up liquidity, in addition to developers’ apparent concealment of vulnerabilities in the project’s code.  

Retfærdighedens hjul kan synes at dreje langsomt for dem, der er anklaget for kryptoforbrydelser, men retshåndhævernes stigende samarbejde med hinanden internationalt har hurtigt afsluttet Do Kwons løb.

3. Over the Great Crypto Firewall

Hong Kong crypto State-sanctionedHong Kong crypto State-sanctioned
Kinesiske statsbanker varmer sig til Hong Kongs kryptovirksomheder efter den tilsyneladende velsignelse, Beijing gav til byens planer om at blive et centrum for digitale aktiver. Billede: Canva

A number of Chinese state-owned banks’ Hong Kong branches have started offering services to local cryptocurrency companies, according to a Bloomberg indberette, som byen byder velkommen til en voksende liste over cryptocurrency og digitale aktivfirmaer looking to expand or relocate there.

  • Hongkong-enhederne i Bank of Communications, Bank of China og Shanghai Pudong Development Bank er begyndt at tilbyde tjenester til lokale kryptofirmaer eller har foretaget forespørgsler om at gøre det ifølge rapporten.
  • Virksomheder i Hongkongs kryptoindustri havde ofte svært ved at oprette virksomhedsbankkonti, og tiltagene fra de statsejede långivere afspejler Kinas opbakning til byens industri for digitale aktiver, hedder det i rapporten.
  • In September 2021, China banned cryptocurrency transactions within mainland Chinese borders, but Hong Kong has continued to be the home base for many companies in the sector. Last October, Hong Kong frigivet politiske dokumenter omfavne sektoren, aiming to regain its position as an international hub for digital assets and Web3 companies.
  • More than 80 foreign and mainland Chinese companies have expressed interest in establishing operations in Hong Kong, ahead of new crypto regulations that will take effect in June, Christopher Hui, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, sagde i sidste uge.
  • Hongkongs finansminister Paul Chan Sagde sidste måned that the government was setting aside HK$50 million (US$6.37 million) to develop the sector, which he called a “golden opportunity” to lead innovative development.
  • Meanwhile, in mainland China, the legal status of cryptocurrencies is still under discussion, despite the country’s ban on crypto trading. The Chinese Procurators, a state-run legal magazine, published an udtalelse stykke on March 20 advocating that cryptocurrencies should be identified as property under the country’s criminal law and thus protected from infringements.

Forkast.Insights | Hvad betyder det?

Crypto’s speculative nature and enormous energy consumption — not to mention its ability to move large amounts of money outside of government control and monitoring —  made China sufficiently nervous to ban all crypto mining and crypto transactions in September 2021. However, Chinese authorities now appear to see the upside of crypto development, with Hong Kong publishing a series of policy documents to oversee the growth of the crypto sector in the city.

Now that Chinese state-owned banks are voicing support for a growing number of crypto firms in need of corporate bank accounts, startups in the city may gain easier access to banking services. The Chinese banks’ moves could fill the void left by the collapses of crypto-friendly U.S. banks Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate Capital , Signaturbank.

Chinese officials, including representatives from China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office — Beijing’s representative outpost in the city — have been spotted mingling with local crypto industry figures at events in Hong Kong, Bloomberg rapporteret last month, another sign that Beijing has given its blessing to Hong Kong’s crypto push.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that China intends to develop its Web 3.0 industry, deploying all kinds of enterprise blockchain and government infrastructure projects while confining all things crypto to Hong Kong, a special administrative region that runs its own economy according to free market principles. As Hong Kong’s ny licensordning for virtual asset trading platforms comes into effect later this year, the city may find itself in the enviable position of returning to its former glory as a crypto hub while underscoring assurances to investors and company founders that Hong Kong’s political overlords will not interfere.

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