Binance Caught in the Middle of Regulatory Scrutiny by SEC

While enjoying its position as the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance (BNB-USD) is forced to consider the trade-offs that come with it. Regulators from all around the globe paint a target on its back. The Securities and Exchange Commission is undoubtedly one of the organizations that is most committed to enforcing regulations in the digital asset sector (SEC). Although the SEC has been focusing on lesser fish in the public eye, it seems that Binance has been the object of their attention for some time.

According to a Reuters article, the SEC has been on Binance's trail for more than two years. The site claims that the agency has been asking Binance for internal information since at least late 2020.

This week, a particular request for further information about the business' anti-money laundering checks became public. Additionally, it searches for internal correspondence from Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, a prominent player in the cryptocurrency sector as a whole. Additionally, the communications of 12 other executives from Binance were sought.

Binance and Binance are noteworthy.

US is a distinct legal entity that caters to American clients solely. Since the SEC issued this request, Binance has named Brian Shroder as the CEO of Binance.US.

This story makes sense considering that the SEC's interest in cryptocurrencies had only just been known at the time. The request was made in December 2020, the same month that Ripple was the target of a lawsuit (XRP-USD). While the Ripple lawsuit focuses with the categorization of assets, it has now been shown that the SEC was also aware of the illegal nature of blockchain more than two years ago, demonstrating the depth of their interest at the time

The SEC Has Been Hot on Crypto's Trail, According to Binance News

The Binance announcement demonstrates that the SEC has been monitoring cryptocurrencies for a lot longer than investors would have thought. After all, other industries are just now starting to take notice of the area. For instance, the FBI didn't establish a crypto task force until February of this year. The SEC is really beginning to hold exchanges accountable now that it has established a strong presence in the market.

A member of Senator Cynthia Lummis' staff who supports cryptocurrency said last month that the SEC was looking into every single U.S. exchange. They also said that Binance, despite being a non-U.S. corporation, is under attack.

That is undoubtedly coming to pass. It has been adding additional inquiries into the corporation on top of this week's news about the past investigations. News of the agency's investigation of BNB, the exchange's native cryptocurrency, surfaced in June. Zhao is heavily criticizing this inquiry.

Even when it is not a specific focus of inquiries, Binance reacts quickly to news about the SEC and cryptocurrency. A Coinbase inquiry led to the exchange delisting the AMP (AMP-USD) coin in July (NASDAQ:COIN). Through its AMP listing, the business was charged by the SEC for concluding an unregistered securities offering. Binance sold the token in order to remove itself from more turbulence with the American authorities.

It's unclear if the 2020 inquiry is still active or connected to the remarks made by Lummis' employee. Although investors could soon get the answer to this question given how active the SEC has been in investigating more and more cryptocurrency firms.