US regulators sue crypto megaplatform Binance and its CEO

New York CNN  — 

Federal regulators sued Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its CEO for allegedly violating trading rules.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates US derivatives trading, said the company and CEO Changpeng Zhao have circumvented US laws by offering unregistered crypto derivative products to Americans.

“Binance’s compliance program has been ineffective and, at Zhao’s direction, Binance has instructed its employees and customers to circumvent compliance controls in order to maximize corporate profits,” the CFTC said in a statement.

The company didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. But as news of the lawsuit broke Monday, Zhao tweeted the number 4, pointing to a part of a previous statement: “Ignore FUD, fake news, attacks, etc.” FUD is a commonly used acronym among crypto fans that stands for “fear, uncertainty, doubt.”

Binance has long argued that it isn’t subject to US laws because it doesn’t have a physical headquarters.

The lawsuit accuses Binance of instructing its employees to advise US-based customers about how to evade trading controls through a messaging app that was set to automatically delete text exchanges.

This is a developing story. It will be updated