Gabriel Budi Sutrisno · · 1 min readBinance US shifted over $400m to CZ-linked trading firm: report
Over US$400 million was transferred from Binance’s US partner to Merit Peak, a trading firm managed by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, within the first three months of 2021, Reuters reported, after reviewing the platform’s banking records and internal messages.
This suggests the global crypto exchange might have “secret access” to a bank account owned by Binance US – a supposedly autonomous partner – to move the money to the trading firm. Reuters found that the bank account was registered at California-based Silvergate Bank under the name of BAM Trading – the operating firm of Binance US.
It’s unclear why the outflows happened and whether any of the funds belong to Binance US clients. At the time, the platform’s terms of use indicated that customers’ dollar deposits were held at Silvergate and Prime Trust, a custodian company based in Nevada.
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Binance US told Reuters that the news agency used “outdated information” and that Merit Peak was “neither trading nor providing any kind of services” to the company. Binance US added that only its employees have access to its bank accounts.
Nevertheless, Binance US executives were concerned as they were not informed about the fund transfers, which began as soon as late 2020, according to internal messages seen by Reuters.
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Eileen C. Ang
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