Gary Gensler, Chairman of the SEC and Commission, once offered to act as an advisor to Binance. At least, that’s what the lawyers representing Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, claim.
Gensler advisor for Binance
A report released by CNBC on June 7 revealed documents indicating that Gary Gensler offered his services as an advisor to the crypto exchange in March 2019. The allegations were made by attorneys for Gibson & Dunn and Latham & Watkins. In contrast, an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal in March indicated that Binance had already approached Gensler to take on an advisor role in 2018.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which relied on reports and documents from 2018 to 2020, Ella Chang, then the head of the venture capital arm of Binance, and Harry Chu, co-founder of Binance-founded Koi Trading, first met with Gary Gensler in October. 2018. During this meeting, they offered him an advisory role, which Gensler later turned down.
The report adds that several private companies made unsuccessful attempts to hire Gensler as a consultant, but he consistently rejected all offers.
In February 2021, US President Joe Biden nominated Gensler to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He was sworn in on April 17, 2021.
Prior to taking charge of the SEC, Gensler was Professor of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. In addition, he served as the Chairman of the Maryland Consumer Financial Protection Commission from 2017 to 2019.
lawsuit against Binance
On June 5, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance. The cryptocurrency exchange has been accused of not being registered as a stock exchange and operating illegally in the United States. In total, the financial regulator filed thirteen charges, including charges for offering and selling Binance Coin (BNB) and Binance USD without registration.
Two days later, on June 7, Binance responded via Chinese social media channels, distancing itself from other cryptocurrency exchanges. In the statement, Binance emphasized the transparency of its wallet addresses and denied misappropriation of customer funds. The company also denied making large donations to political candidates or large sponsorships to entertainment and media companies, an implicit reference to the practices of now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
On the same day, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao sparked a discussion on Twitter by noting that the SEC had never charged FTX. Meanwhile, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler claimed in an interview that there are many similarities between the two companies’ activities.
