Binance, CEO Zhao Sued by CFTC Over 'Willful Evasion' of U.S. Laws, Unregistered Crypto Derivatives Products

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued crypto exchange Binance and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao Monday on allegations the company knowingly offered unregistered crypto derivatives products in the U.S. against federal law. The lawsuit alleges Binance operated a derivatives trading operation in the U.S., offering trades for cryptocurrencies including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD), which the suit referred to as commodities. The suit also alleged that the company, under CZ’s leadership, directed its employees to spoof their locations through the use of virtual private networks.