Binance has been facing a storm of media and regulatory scrutiny recently, but the company’s founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), remains unfazed.
As a matter of fact, the CEO believes that this is actually an opportunity for its company to prove its merits, as it is faced with Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD).
The company
On Friday, CZ spoke at a Twitter Spaces event and said that critics of Binance were trying to paint it as a company similar to FTX because of its legal troubles.
The now-defunct crypto exchange was operated by Sam Bankman-Fried, a former rival of the Binance CEO.
According to Zhao, even though there is considerable Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD), the company has only managed to prove its strength.
This is because Binance has been able to retain its market share, along with its large user base, despite the fears.
CZ stated that the company was a lot stronger today than it had been two years earlier and added that where regulatory compliance is concerned, the crypto exchange is ahead of the game.
The accusations
The defense by the CEO is counter to the accusations that have been made against Binance, Binance US, which is its US subsidiary, and the CEO himself.
These accusations have been made by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a lawsuit was launched by the agency on June 5th.
The SEC has alleged in the lawsuit that a wash trading scheme has been ongoing in which company funds worth millions have been moved between companies that CZ owns.
Other accusations from the SEC include that of running an unlicensed securities exchange in the form of Binance and operating in the United States illegally.
Most importantly, it should be noted that the SEC is not the only regulatory body that has taken aim at Binance recently.
Legal troubles
A lawsuit was also filed against Binance by the US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on March 27th.
It has alleged that the crypto exchange is operating in violation of US trading and derivatives laws. Other countries where the exchange is facing legal scrutiny include France, Australia, and Canada.
While CZ is not wrong in asserting that Binance continues to be the largest crypto exchange in the world, the regulatory pressure has taken its toll.
According to data from CoinGecko, the week after the SEC filed its lawsuit, the US market share of Binance evaporated by 78% and there was a 52% decline in overall trading volumes on the exchange.
Regardless, the CEO took a confident tone in highlighting the improvements that have been made globally in the crypto regulatory landscape.
He suggested that these improvements could prove to be helpful in alleviating some of the bearish pressure that the broader market has been under.
He said that some of the countries had seen ‘positive’ regulatory developments, including France, Japan, and Hong Kong.
As far as the US is concerned, CZ said that there have been positive developments in the lawsuits relating to Grayscale and Ripple Labs.