According to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Binance traded with 300 “house accounts” associated with CEO Changpeng Zhao. Moreover, the US agency filed a lawsuit against both the exchange and Zhao in federal court today.
Additionally, Binance reportedly did not subject the 300 accounts to “anti-fraud or anti-manipulation surveillance or controls,” the suit states. Noting the accounts were exempt from newly implemented insider trading policies.
Binance Sued Over Trading with “House Accounts”
According to court documents, the US CFTC is alleging Binance traded with 300 “house accounts,” associated both directly and indirectly, with CEO Changpeng Zhao. Conversely, the information arrives as the lawsuit was filed in a Chicago Federal Court this morning.
“During the relevant period, Binance has traded on its own platform through approximately 300 ‘house accounts’ that are all directly or indirectly owned by Zhao” the US CFTC stated in documents. Additionally stating:
“Zhao has also traded on the Binance platform through two individual accounts.”
The lawsuit also states that those 300 house accounts were not subject to certain safeguards. Specifically, these accounts were not at the behest of “any anti-fraud or anti-manipulation surveillance or controls,” the suit states. Moreover noting the 300 accounts were exempt from the company’s “‘insider trading policy”.
Moreover, the lawsuit has taken aim at the exchange’s dealings in the United States. Stating, “Binance purposefully obscures the identities and location of the entities operation the trading platform.” Subsequently, noting, “Binance’s senior management have failed to properly supervise Binance’s activities and, indeed, have actively facilitated violations of U.S. law,” the suit stated.