Binance's Troubles: Impact on Reputation and Outflows.

The recent lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against Binance, its founder Changpeng Zhao, and other entities for failing to register as a "futures commission merchant" while offering unregistered crypto derivatives options to US customers has strong implications for criminal and sanctions-related issues. The allegations suggest that the company went out of its way to try to bypass US regulations, and some of the claims in the lawsuit would probably trigger both the Department of Justice and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control laws. While there is nothing imminent coming from the Justice Department or Office of Foreign Asset Controls about Binance, the allegations in the CFTC's complaint have strong implications for criminal and sanctions-related issues.