Two US Senators, Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen, have submitted a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the Justice Department to investigate whether leading crypto exchange Binance Holdings Ltd. provided false information to Congress, including its claims that Binance.US operated as a separate entity. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently submitted a 136-page complaint filed in federal court against Binance Holdings and the global entity of Binance, which was not meant to enable American trading, alleging that both companies had failed to operate as separate entities. The SEC complaint also accused Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao of violating securities rules, handling customer funding inappropriately, and providing misleading information to investors.
Warren, Van Hollen, and Roger Marshall requested information about the relationship between Binance and Binance.US in March, alongside a range of financial data. Binance responded that both companies were independent entities, and compliance was a top priority. According to the Senators, Binance and Binance.US may have "undermined this important investigation and the legislative process by providing false and misleading information."
The SEC complaint claimed that Binance and Zhao were intimately involved in US business management, despite attempts to operate independently. The SEC is now seeking a temporary restraining order against Binance as part of its case.
Binance has declined to comment on the matter, while the Justice Department stated that it would refrain from commenting at this time. Binance has previously faced concerns from Texas state regulators regarding the independence of Binance and Binance.US. As the situation develops, it remains to be seen how the Justice Department will respond to Warren and Van Hollen's request for further investigation into Binance's business practices.