Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, reportedly offered an advisory role to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler twice in the past.
The claims were made by the Wall Street Journal based on internal messages, documents, and interviews with former employees.
- Binance tried to hire Gensler first in 2018 while he was teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
- At
the time, Gensler met Ella Zhang, head of Binance’s venture investing
arm, and Harry Zhou, the co-founder of Binance-invested firm Koi
Trading, to consider the offer.
- Though he declined the role, Gensler shared license strategies with Binance.
- The
second offer was made in 2019 with a meeting between Gensler and the
exchange’s founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), before a second refusal.
- Gensler became the SEC Chair in April 2021.
- The
messages also showed how deeply integrated Binance and Binance.US were,
with employees, technology, and finance shared between the two.
- Binance
is currently under scrutiny by U.S. regulators over its possible
violation of securities law through its relationship with the American
arm, Binance.US.
- The popular crypto exchange persistently claimed that the main company and its U.S. arm are distinct entities.
- In
2022, Binance’s workforce for compliance and investigations increased
by 500% after it came under fire from local regulators in several
countries.
