Binance reportedly under CFTC investigation over US-based trading activity

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, is reportedly under investigation by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission regarding possible trades made by U.S.-based customers.

Binance Holdings Ltd is being investigated by the watchdog concerning possible derivatives trades made by American customers, Bloomberg reported on Friday, after being tipped off by an anonymous source.

The exchange has not yet been accused of any wrongdoing, however, regulators are now reportedly seeking to determine whether cryptocurrency derivatives were bought and sold by U.S citizens on the Binance platform.

A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph, “We do not comment, as a matter of policy, on communications with any regulators. What we can say is that we take a collaborative approach in working with regulators around the world and we take our compliance obligations very seriously.”

Cryptocurrency derivatives trading shot to new heights throughout the beginning of 2021, with Binance itself acting as the venue for $59 billion’s worth by the time of publication — more than twice the sum of its nearest competitor, Huobi Global.

Recently, Singapore-based crypto derivatives exchange Bybit was forced to close down its operations in the United Kingdom in the wake of the Financial Conduct Authority’s ban on retail derivatives trading.

Binance reportedly blocks users from U.S. IP addresses from entering the site, however a controversial Forbes article from October 2020 claimed that founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, regularly encouraged users to employ a VPN.