Reuters claimed that Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, violated US financial rules.
Three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Binance violated US financial rules by combining customer deposits and company revenues, which should be kept separately in 2020 and 2021.
One source told Reuters that he had direct knowledge of Binance's finances and said the combined funds were worth billions of dollars.
This person also stated that this confusion is made almost daily in Binance's accounts at US bank Silvergate.
Commenting on Reuters' claims about Binance, three former US regulators said the allegations made by Reuters pointed to a lack of internal controls at Binance.
According to US regulators, these allegations against Binance indicate the lack of internal controls to ensure client funds are clearly identifiable and separated from company revenues.
Regulators also added that consolidating funds that should be segregated puts client assets at risk by hiding their whereabouts.
John Reed Stark, former chief of the SEC's Internet Enforcement Office, commented:
"Binance shouldn't need a forensic accountant to find out where its clients' money is."
Reuters said it found no evidence of customer funds being lost or taken, noting that the information about Binance remained at the size of allegations.
Binance Communications Director Patrick Hillman responded to Reuters' allegations on Twitter:
“Let me explain how desperate Reuters is to publish a negative piece of news about Binance.
The basis of their story this morning is that when users buy BUSD (Paxos) on Binance, they are directed to a trading page with the term "deposit" on it.
Users were purchasing a Stablecoin that could be used by Paxos, which is clearly stated on the page.
This news is so weak that in a transparent attempt to shield themselves from a libel lawsuit, they had to cite the phrase "Reuters found no evidence of Binance customer funds being lost or taken".
We've been very public in the past about where the company has regulatory shortcomings.
There's no reason why a reputable news source like Reuters should keep making stuff up."
Let me explain just how desperate a journalist @Reuters is to publish a negative story. The whole base of their story this morning, is that when users purchased BUSD (Paxos) from Binance, they were taken to a transaction page that had the term “deposit” on it. Users were making a…
— Patrick Hillmann (@PRHillmann) May 23, 2023
