[NEW] US Department of Justice considering lawsuit against Binance, but concerns over risks; compromise plan in the works?

It has been revealed that the US Department of Justice is considering suing the major cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its CEO CZ (Changpeng Zhao) on fraud charges. US news media Semafor reported on the 3rd.

According to Semafor, the US Department of Justice is considering the matter, but is concerned that suing Binance this time will lead to a run on the company's funds, as happened with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which collapsed last year.

According to sources, the Department is considering compromises such as fines, deferred prosecution, or non-prosecution agreements to hold Binance accountable for the fraud allegations while avoiding various concerns such as damage suffered by customers.

In the US, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filed a lawsuit against Binance and CZ on 13 charges, including violations of securities laws, in June of this year. At that time, cryptocurrency prices fell across the board, causing a major impact on the market.

In addition, in March, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also filed a lawsuit against Binance, CZ, and the company's former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim for violating the Commodity Exchange Act, and the US authorities are tightening their grip on the market.

According to a legal expert who spoke to Semafor, the case that the SEC is considering filing this time is close to a criminal complaint. He said that there is a possibility that criminal complaints will follow, as in the case of FTX.

Furthermore, he said that it is unusual for the Department of Justice to file a civil lawsuit before federal prosecutors in a high-profile case. Normally, the SEC works with the Department of Justice to file both civil and criminal lawsuits.

At this time, Binance has not officially commented on the new SEC lawsuit.

Reference:Announcement
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