US regulator sues crypto giant Binance, CEO Changpeng Zhao

A top US markets regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), on Monday charged cryptocurrency giant Binance and its founder amd CEO Changpeng Zhao with operating what the regulator alleged were an “illegal” exchange and a “sham” compliance program.

The CFTC sued Binance, Zhao and its former top compliance executive with “willful evasion” of US law, “while engaging in a calculated strategy of regulatory arbitrage to their commercial benefit.”

Rostin Behnam, chairman of the CFTC, said the charges against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, were part of a campaign to “find and stop misconduct in the volatile and risky digital asset market.”