Binance claims French authorities made on-site visit

A look into the lawsuits and investigations Binance is currently facing

article-image

Emre Akkoyun/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Binance has pushed back on reports that it’s facing yet another investigation — this time by French authorities. 

In an email to Blockworks, Binance said that it had an “on-site visit last week by the relevant authorities” and was “fully collaborative” as it continues to work with regulators and law enforcement globally to ensure that it was meeting regulatory requirements. 

It continued, “Binance invests considerable time and resources into cooperating with law enforcement globally. We abide by all laws in France, just as we do in every other market we operate. We will not comment on the specifics of law enforcement or regulatory investigations except to say that information about our users is held securely and only provided to government officials upon receipt of documented appropriate justification.”

In a tweet response, the crypto company clarified that it spent “considerable time” and invested resources into “cooperating with law enforcement globally.”

Loading Tweet..

So let’s look at the investigations and lawsuits Binance currently faces.

What the French are investigating

According to a report from French news source Le Monde, the public prosecutors office of Paris is looking into possible “acts of aggravated money laundering” by Binance.

Le Monde reported that the Paris public prosecutors office specified that the investigation “relates on the one hand to acts of illegal exercise of the function of service provider on digital assets (PSAN), and on the other hand, acts of aggravated money laundering, by participating in investment operations, concealment, conversion, the latter being carried out by perpetrators of offenses having generated profits”

The French paper also claimed that Binance has been under investigation since February of last year.

What the SEC has claimed

Meanwhile, in the US, Binance, BAM Management, BAM Trading, and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao were all named in a lawsuit from the SEC last week

The SEC alleges that both Binance and BAM Trading — which, with BAM Management, oversees Binance.US — sold unregistered securities. 

It also claims the Binance.US staking program is an investment contract, therefore falling under the definition of a security. 

“Binance and BAM Trading have unlawfully engaged in unregistered offers and sales of crypto asset securities, including Binance’s own crypto assets called ‘BNB’ and ‘BUSD,’ as well as Binance’s profit-generating programs called ‘BNB Vault’ and ‘Simple Earn,’ and a so-called ‘staking’ investment scheme available on the Binance.US Platform,” the filing said.

On top of selling unregistered securities, Binance and Binance.US were operating as unregistered exchanges, according to the SEC.

They point to a former Binance executive saying, “we are operating as a fking unlicensed securites exchange in the USA, bro.” 

Another allegation is that Binance commingled customer funds, and therefore put US customers at risk. 

“Through accounts owned and controlled by Zhao and Binance, billions of U.S. dollars of customer funds from both Binance Platforms were commingled in an account held by a Zhao-controlled entity,” the filing continued. 

There are fraud allegations throughout the 100-plus page lawsuit as well, with the SEC pointing to internal communications as proof that Binance was soliciting US customers and was attempting to find backdoors for some US consumers, dubbed VIPs by Binance executives.

Binance has denied the allegations of commingling user assets and pushed back against the lawsuit.

What the CFTC claimed

Binance is facing not one but two lawsuits in the US. 

In March, both Binance and Zhao — alongside former chief compliance officer Samuel Lim — were sued by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission.

The CFTC alleges that the defendants “solicited and accepted orders, accepted property to margin, and operated a facility for the trading of futures, options, swaps, and leveraged retail commodity transactions involving digital assets that are commodities including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and litecoin (LTC) for persons in the United States.”

CFTC, similarly to the SEC, claims that Binance knew it was dodging compliance but sought to “keep the money flowing.”

The CFTC quoted Lim as knowingly skirting laws relating to KYC — or know your customer — saying in 2019, “Cz doesn’t wanna do us kyc on .com.”

Both the US and France have KYC laws, which require financial service providers and financial institutions to establish the identity of a customer and identify risk factors.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template Presentation.jpg

Research

The Solana validator landscape has changed drastically over the past year. The chain now has 1,332 active validators with 380.9 million SOL staked (63.9% of supply) as of February 2025. Validator revenue had diversified beyond inflationary rewards (still making up 55%) to include Jito tips (30%), priority fees (24%), and base fees (<1%), in January, especially with the increased activity on Solana. Since then, issuance has become dominant again (76%), while Jito tips (14%), priority fees (9%), and base fees (less than 1%) have reduced in share of February 2025. There has been a strong shift towards non-inflationary revenue sources, which have become more central to validator economics as priority fees and off-chain blockspace auctions gain traction. Client diversity has also improved drastically, with implementations such as Agave, Jito-Solana, and Frankendancer already in use, and upcoming clients like Firedancer and Sig expected to further strengthen resilience and reduce reliance on a single codebase.

article-image

BWR analyst Carlos Gonzalez Campo explains the consequences of SOL inflation and transfers lost to “leaky buckets”

article-image

Empire co-host Santiago Santos makes the case that memecoins have actually helped push infra forward…just not in the way you think

article-image

A16z Crypto lists seven buckets for tokens and recommendations for how to regulate them, in a filing submitted to the SEC

article-image

New model aims to resolve trading inefficiencies with a single execution layer and market maker changes

article-image

Investors navigating BTC face short-term unpredictability, influence from other markets

article-image

The GENIUS Act aims to establish regulatory guidelines for stablecoins