RAPPORTO SPECIALE-Il gigante delle criptovalute Binance ha mescolato i fondi dei clienti e le entrate dell’azienda, affermano ex addetti ai lavori

23 maggio (Reuters) – Il più grande exchange di criptovalute al mondo, Binance, ha mescolato i fondi dei clienti con le entrate dell’azienda nel 2020 e nel 2021, in violazione delle regole finanziarie statunitensi che richiedono di tenere separato il denaro dei clienti, hanno detto a Reuters tre fonti vicine alla questione.

Una delle fonti, una persona con conoscenza diretta delle finanze del gruppo di Binance, ha affermato che le somme ammontavano a miliardi di dollari e che la commistione avveniva quasi quotidianamente nei conti detenuti dall’exchange presso la banca statunitense Silvergate Bank. Reuters non ha potuto verificare in modo indipendente le cifre o la frequenza. Ma l’agenzia di stampa ha esaminato un registro bancario che mostra che il 10 febbraio 2021, Binance ha mescolato $ 20 milioni da un conto aziendale con $ 15 milioni da un conto che ha ricevuto i soldi dei clienti.

I flussi di denaro su Binance descritti da Reuters indicano una mancanza di controlli interni per garantire che i fondi dei clienti fossero chiaramente identificabili e separati dai ricavi dell’azienda, hanno affermato tre ex regolatori statunitensi. Hanno detto che la commistione di questi fondi mette a rischio i beni dei clienti oscurando la loro ubicazione. I clienti di Binance non dovrebbero “aver bisogno di un contabile forense per scoprire dove sono i loro soldi”, ha affermato John Reed Stark, ex capo dell’Office of Internet Enforcement della Securities and Exchange Commission.

Reuters non ha trovato alcuna prova che i soldi dei clienti di Binance siano stati persi o sottratti.

Il presidente della SEC Gary Gensler ha affermato che molti scambi di criptovalute che offrono titoli ai clienti statunitensi non rispettano le leggi che richiedono ai broker-dealer registrati di salvaguardare il denaro dei clienti separandolo dalle risorse aziendali. “I loro modelli di business tendono a essere costruiti prendendo i fondi dei clienti, mescolandoli”, ha detto a un evento a maggio. Quest’anno la SEC ha lanciato un giro di vite su una serie di società crittografiche, ma non ha preso di mira Binance con alcuna azione di applicazione diretta.

Binance ha consentito ai clienti statunitensi di fare trading sulla sua piattaforma dal 2019 a quest’anno nonostante affermasse pubblicamente di limitare l’accesso agli americani, ha affermato la Commodity Futures Trading Commission statunitense in una denuncia contro l’exchange a marzo. Binance ha risposto in un blog che blocca gli utenti statunitensi.

In una dichiarazione a Reuters, Binance ha negato di mescolare depositi dei clienti e fondi aziendali. “Questi conti non sono stati utilizzati per accettare depositi degli utenti; sono stati utilizzati per facilitare gli acquisti di criptovalute da parte degli utenti, ha affermato il portavoce Brad Jaffe. “Non c’è mai stata commistione perché si tratta di fondi aziendali al 100%”. Quando gli utenti hanno inviato denaro sul conto, ha affermato, non stavano depositando fondi ma acquistando il token crittografico su misura legato al dollaro dell’exchange, BUSD. Questo processo era “esattamente la stessa cosa dell’acquisto di un prodotto da Amazon”, ha detto Jaffe.

Gli ex regolatori statunitensi hanno detto a Reuters che la spiegazione di Binance è stata minata dalle precedenti dichiarazioni dell’exchange ai clienti secondo cui i trasferimenti erano depositi. Dalla fine del 2020 e per tutto il 2021, il sito Web di Binance ha comunicato ai clienti che i loro trasferimenti in dollari erano “depositi” che sarebbero stati “accreditati” sui loro conti di trading sotto forma di BUSD. Ai clienti è stato detto che potevano “ritirare” i loro depositi in dollari. Queste rappresentazioni hanno creato l’aspettativa che i fondi dei clienti sarebbero stati salvaguardati allo stesso modo dei tradizionali depositi in contanti, hanno affermato gli ex regolatori.

“Queste rappresentazioni devono essere sempre cristalline”, ha affermato Stark, l’ex funzionario della SEC.

Reuters ha chiesto a Binance se ha mai detto agli utenti che considerava i loro depositi in dollari come “acquisti”. Binance non ha fornito alcuna prova di ciò e ha affermato che “il termine ‘deposito’ è un termine di comunicazione, non è un’indicazione del trattamento tecnico dei fondi”.

La commistione di clienti e fondi aziendali può essere un precursore di pesanti perdite per i clienti delle società finanziarie. A dicembre, la SEC e la CFTC hanno affermato che il fondatore dell’exchange di criptovalute FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, aveva per anni mescolato i fondi dei clienti presso la sua società commerciale e utilizzato i soldi per finanziare investimenti in capitale di rischio, donazioni politiche e acquisti immobiliari. Bankman-Fried si è dichiarato non colpevole di accuse di frode e ha affermato di non aver consapevolmente mescolato fondi.

IL BANCHIERE DI BINANCE

Bank and company records for 2019-2021, seen by Reuters, and interviews with former insiders show that Binance used Silvergate Bank, the U.S. lender that collapsed in March, as the lynchpin of its financial operations. Silvergate, which is in the process of winding down operations, did not comment for this article.

Company revenues entered the Silvergate account of the exchange’s Cayman Islands holding firm, Binance Holdings, according to the sources and bank records. Customer dollars flowed into the Silvergate account of a firm in the Seychelles called Key Vision Development that was controlled by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.

One of the sources and a fourth person with direct knowledge of this account said Binance told Silvergate the Key Vision account’s purpose was to receive dollar deposits from non-U.S. customers. Jaffe, the Binance spokesperson, said this was inaccurate, without providing further details.

According to the sources and the February 2021 bank record seen by Reuters, Binance mixed customer money and company revenues in a third Silvergate account, belonging to a Zhao-controlled Cayman firm. Binance converted money from this third account into the dollar-linked token BUSD, according to the person with knowledge of Binance’s group finances and company messages. Blockchain records show Binance bought at least $18 billion of BUSD between January 2020 and December 2021.

The former regulators told Reuters that moving money between accounts and into crypto could have enabled Binance to shield funds from tax authorities in countries where it operates. The person with group-level knowledge of Binance said there was also another motivation: Zhao distrusted banks, once telling an interviewer of his concern that they could freeze his company’s accounts. So Binance turned cash into crypto, commingling customer funds and revenues in the process.

The new insights into Binance’s financial operations come as the company is facing civil charges from the CFTC of willful evasion of U.S. commodities laws by “intentionally structuring entities and transactions” to avoid U.S. regulations. The CFTC also alleged, without elaborating, that some of Binance’s corporate entities, including the Cayman holding firm, “have commingled funds.” Zhao called the charges “disappointing” and an “incomplete recitation of facts.” Binance is also under investigation by the Justice Department for suspected money laundering and sanctions violations, according to people familiar with the probe.

The CFTC declined to comment for this article, citing pending litigation, as did the SEC. The DOJ had no comment.

Binance has grown into a juggernaut in recent years, accounting for as much as 70% of world trading in cryptocurrencies. The company initially did business solely in crypto, enabling it to avoid the global banking system. But as Binance attracted more customers and hired more employees, its need for conventional bank accounts grew – to deposit the dollars it received from clients, to pay wages and other expenses, and to finance investments.

Silvergate, which specialised in serving the crypto industry, made this possible – until early March of this year, when the bank announced its closure after customers pulled deposits amid a wave of turmoil. The same month, New York’s chief financial regulator took over another crypto-friendly bank, Signature Bank, where Binance was also a client.

Mentre il giro di vite degli Stati Uniti sul settore delle criptovalute prende piede, non è chiaro quale banca diventerà il prossimo fulcro delle operazioni di Binance. Zhao ha detto su Twitter che stava cercando nuovi partner bancari. “Quando una porta si chiude, le altre si aprono”, ha scritto il 27 marzo. Reuters non è riuscita a determinare chi ora agisca come principale banchiere di Binance.

UNA RETE INTRICATA

Cinque mesi dopo il lancio dell’exchange a Shanghai nel luglio 2017, Zhao ha dichiarato al notiziario Tech in Asia che Binance non aveva partner bancari perché i clienti depositavano fondi esclusivamente in criptovalute. “Più hai a che fare con fiat, più (le autorità) possono controllarti”, ha detto Zhao, riferendosi alle valute tradizionali. Ha usato la sua carta di credito personale per saldare le bollette dell’azienda, hanno detto gli ex dipendenti.

But the situation changed in 2018 when Binance sought to launch several local exchanges where customers could buy crypto with traditional currencies. Zhao dispatched his deputies to find banks and payment firms willing to accept Binance as a client. Chief among these deputies was Guangying Chen, the head of Binance’s back office. Chinese-born Chen was one of the few employees Zhao trusted with Binance’s finances, former executives said. Chen did not respond to questions about her role.

Binance had limited success obtaining bank accounts for its small local units, however. Most major banks turned the exchange down due to compliance concerns over crypto companies’ source of funds, according to company messages and former executives.

Then Silvergate came to the rescue. In recent years, the small San Diego-based bank had shifted its focus from local real-estate lending to servicing crypto companies. It quickly became a leading provider of banking services to the crypto sector.

By 2019, Binance had opened a Silvergate account for its Cayman-based holding company, Binance Holdings Limited, to receive revenues earned by the exchange. The account was handled by Chen and a finance executive who reported to her, Susan Li, company records show. Li didn’t comment for this article.

Binance then opened two further Silvergate accounts: for Seychelles firm Key Vision Development and Cayman Islands-based Merit Peak, both incorporated on Jan. 15, 2019 and controlled by Zhao, according to filings and bank records. Binance’s online platform began instructing customers to “deposit” their dollars into the Key Vision account. After users transferred funds to Key Vision, they received an email from Binance telling them they had “successfully deposited” their dollars, according to screenshots posted online by traders. Users could also “withdraw” their deposits via Binance’s platform, which said it would wire the dollars to their bank accounts.

Binance Holdings, Key Vision and Merit Peak formed the core of the global crypto exchange’s financial network. But inside Binance, few employees had full visibility over their roles. Access to information about the Binance group’s overall finances and its bank accounts was tightly managed by Chen, a half-dozen former executives said. Chen’s team also had access to a Silvergate account belonging to Binance’s purportedly independent U.S. partner, Binance.US, which Zhao in fact controls, as Reuters has previously reported. Binance.US told Reuters that only Binance.US executives have access to its bank accounts.

Binance’s then-chief compliance officer, Samuel Lim, was concerned by the exchange’s dependence on Silvergate due to requirements that U.S. banks closely monitor clients’ transactions, company messages show. Lim told executives in a 2020 message seen by Reuters that “the long term fix is to reduce reliance on US bank.” The CFTC complaint in March charged Lim with aiding and abetting Binance in violating U.S. laws “through intentional conduct that undermined Binance’s compliance program.” Lim has not publicly responded to the charge and did not comment for this article.

The person with direct knowledge of Binance’s group finances said Zhao shared Lim’s distrust of banks and instructed the finance team to keep dollar balances in the Silvergate accounts as low as possible. Dollars in the Binance Holdings account and Key Vision customer funds account that were surplus to immediate business needs were transferred to the Merit Peak account, where they were commingled, the source said. Money from the Merit Peak account was then used to purchase Binance’s BUSD token, according to the source and company messages. BUSD and other “stablecoins” are backed by dollars and designed to hold a steady value.

Reuters couldn’t determine the value of BUSD tokens purchased in this way. But blockchain data show that between January 2020 and December 2021, BUSD’s issuer, New York-based Paxos Trust, transferred at least $18 billion of BUSD to Binance. Binance received the BUSD in at least two wallets that it has previously identified as its own, without saying whether they contain company or customer funds. A Paxos spokesperson said that between late 2019 and early 2023 Binance sent Paxos dollars in return for BUSD “for it and its customers.”

The money flow between Binance and Paxos also could be reversed, according to the person with group-level knowledge and company messages. When Key Vision needed dollars to meet customer withdrawals, for instance, Binance would redeem BUSD at Paxos, which in return would send dollars to Merit Peak’s Silvergate account. Merit Peak would then distribute the dollars to other accounts as needed.

The value of BUSD tokens in circulation peaked at over $23 billion last November, with Binance-controlled crypto wallets holding as much as 90% of the total, according to crypto data firm Nansen. But in February, New York regulators ordered Paxos to stop issuing BUSD, citing Paxos’ failures in risk assessments and due diligence checks.

The Paxos spokesperson said the company “voluntarily announced its intention to end its relationship with Binance and has been successfully winding down all business relationships with Binance since.”

Since Paxos stopped issuing BUSD, Binance has reduced its holdings of the coin to around $3 billion, according to Nansen. Reuters could not determine why Binance reduced these holdings or how it converted them.

Money from other sources also entered Merit Peak’s account, including hundreds of millions of dollars from a Binance.US account, Reuters has previously reported. Bank records show the Binance.US account was operated by Chen. Binance.US told Reuters Merit Peak “was withdrawing funds from its own account.” It didn’t respond to follow up questions.

Silvergate ha informato Binance che avrebbe chiuso l’account di Key Vision a metà del 2021, secondo due persone con conoscenza diretta. Silvergate ha preso la decisione sulla base del fatto che Key Vision aveva effettuato transazioni improprie per un conto bancario di custodia, ha detto una delle persone, senza elaborare. Quel giugno, Binance ha inviato un’e-mail agli utenti per dire loro che i “depositi in USD” tramite Silvergate sarebbero stati “interrotti”. Binance ha quindi iniziato a utilizzare un account Key Vision presso Signature Bank per ricevere i fondi dei clienti, secondo le fonti e gli screenshot delle transazioni degli utenti. Signature Bank non ha commentato questo articolo.

Il portavoce di Binance, Jaffe, ha affermato che questo rapporto sugli account Key Vision era impreciso, ma non ha fornito ulteriori dettagli.

UNA BASE BALTICA

Binance’s financial network also required a reliable euro bank account, former executives said. The exchange found a solution in Lithuania which provided a European Union base and a straightforward registration process. In May 2020, Binance set up the Lithuanian company, initially called Binance UAB, with Zhao as its sole shareholder and Chen as a board member. Binance later unveiled the firm, renamed as Bifinity, as its “official fiat-to-crypto payments provider.” Zhao installed Helen Hai, Binance’s China-born head of fiat operations, as president. Hai didn’t comment for this article.

In 2021, Bifinity had revenue of 680 million euros, according to its financial report, and paid over 420 million euros to a single unnamed related party. The person with direct knowledge of Binance’s group finances identified the unnamed party as Binance Holdings. Bifinity did not respond to questions from Reuters.

One consequence of Binance’s financial manoeuvring, four former Binance executives said, was to protect the exchange’s profits from tax authorities. Binance has never disclosed where its Binance.com trading platform is based nor what corporate taxes it pays and where.

To assess how much tax Binance pays, Reuters reviewed the exchange’s public filings since 2018 in countries where it has said it has significant operations. In France and Dubai, where Binance established hubs last year, local units have not detailed tax payments. France’s finance ministry declined to comment and Dubai didn’t comment. In Malta, where Binance said it was based for several years, its main local unit reported losses each year, so it paid no tax. Maltese authorities didn’t comment. The only significant tax payments Reuters found were in Lithuania, where in 2022 Bifinity paid 42.5 million euros, data from Lithuania’s tax authority show.

With the growth in Bifinity’s business came a higher profile. In July 2021, Lithuania’s central bank said it had warned Binance not to provide unlicensed investment services. Six months later the exchange appointed Saulius Galatiltis, who previously ran the central bank’s investment management department, as chief executive of Bifinity.

When Lithuania’s parliament debated a new bill to toughen rules for the country’s crypto companies last year, Galatiltis urged a parliamentary committee to avoid stricter legislation. He emphasised Bifinity’s tax payments, which last year made it one of Lithuania’s largest corporate taxpayers. “This business is global, in many countries all over the world,” Galatiltis told the committee, discussing Bifinity. “I think a business which acts globally and pays tax locally must be attractive to any country,” he said. Galatiltis didn’t respond to requests for comment for this article.

Il Parlamento alla fine ha votato attraverso una serie di regole annacquate. Il ministero delle finanze lituano ha detto a Reuters che Bifinity è stata coinvolta nel processo formale di “fornire commenti e suggerimenti” sul disegno di legge insieme ad altre istituzioni e partecipanti al mercato. “Non basiamo mai le nostre decisioni sulle politiche normative su una singola entità”.