According to Reuters, Binance covertly accessed a bank account of a U.S.-based partner and transferred more than $400 million from that account to a trading firm owned by Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao.
The funds moved from the Binance.US account at Silvergate Bank to trading firm Merit Peak Ltd. over the first three months of 2021, according to Reuters, citing banking records and corporate messages. According to the report, the transfers began in late 2020.
Reuters stated that it was unable to determine whether the transferred monies belonged to US consumers or why the funds were moved.
According to Reuters, executives at the US firm were concerned about the movements because they were unaware of them.
In a statement to Reuters, Binance.US spokesperson Kimberly Soward said the outlet was reporting “outdated information,” but didn’t address questions about the transfers.
Parent company Binance did not respond to Reuters, nor did Zhao or Prime Trust, a custodian firm that was also listed as holding customer funds for the U.S. exchange. Silvergate told Reuters it doesn’t comment on individual customers.
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