In a recent interview, CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam was asked about the possible punishment that Binance and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao might face if found guilty of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s accusations of allowing and facilitating illegal trading of crypto derivatives by people in the United States. The chairman chose to avoid answering the question.
The Potential Punishment
The aforementioned complaint apparently seeks injunctions that might force Binance, its CEO CZ, and his compliance officer Samuel Lin out of business in the United States. This essentially meant that they could be barred from trading or registering as a commodity futures merchant. They may also be ordered to return trading profits, income, salaries, and any money received as a result of the alleged crimes.
Binance, on the other hand, has the option of fighting the matter in court or attempting to reach a settlement deal. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the corresponding exchange platform had not yet revealed its plans for dealing with this issue.
The most current update is its initial answer from last week, in which it emphasized its recent collaboration with regulators as well as attempts to increase compliance. It is also worth noting that CZ claimed the CFTC’s “incomplete recital of facts” in a blog post.
The Community’s Reaction
Members of the peanut gallery have taken to social media to voice their thoughts on this topic. Some of them claim that the “crypto world’s richest man” will cut a check to the CFTC and watch the whole thing go away.
This claim may be based on the outcomes of many large banks that have had run-ins with regulators throughout the years. Another reason is that claiming that crypto exchanges deserve the same treatment as American banks is impractical.
It is also worth mentioning that although big lenders have experienced a rough patch with the law, it can’t be denied that they actually do provide services that are vital to the greater good: mortgages, savings accounts, business loans, etc.
Although the public is not a fan of banks they are knowledgeable on how beneficial the said institutions are and putting one out of business every time they violate regulations would leave a mark.
