Binance Faces Imminent Collapse, Warns Ex-SEC Official!

“It’s Only a Matter of Time Before the Entire Binance Plea Deal Collapses“.

Former official of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), John Reed Stark, recently conveyed his insights on the future of crypto exchange Binance in an extensive post shared on the X social media platform last Saturday. 

Stark, in his analysis of the Binance settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), highlighted two pivotal developments. Initially, he pointed out the emergence of a series of recently unveiled DOJ filings related to Binance, shedding light on the extensive regulatory control that the DOJ now wields over the exchange. 

Stark expressed his belief that these disclosed DOJ filings could potentially mark the conclusion of Binance, stating:

”The exhaustive list of Binance’s new compliance commitments reads like a consulting firm’s wish list – and will cost tens, if not hundreds, millions of dollars to implement and execute”.

Describing the future monitorships and oversight at Binance, Stark drew a parallel to equipping every member of a global criminal drug cartel with body cameras, with the cartel bearing the expense of a proficient team of former and current government agents to monitor the footage around the clock. Stark asserted:

“My take is that, just like a drug cartel, a secretive and opaque financial firm like Binance cannot suddenly transform into a traditional, law-abiding, open, transparent, obedient, submissive and government-friendly financial firm. Surviving an SEC audit would be tough enough for the beleaguered Binance infrastructure, but facing a DOJ/FinCEN audit — well, that seems all but impossible”. 

Stark continued, elaborating:

”To me, it’s only a matter of time before the entire Binance plea deal collapses, resulting in additional charges for Binance, additional charges for CZ and new charges against anyone else (partner, customer, joint-venturer, collaborator, etc.) nefariously intertwined with the Binance criminal enterprise”.

The second significant development highlighted by Stark was the SEC's filing of a “supplemental pleading against Binance,” which, in his view, substantially fortified the regulator's lawsuit against the crypto firm.

The former SEC internet enforcement chief elaborated on this, stating that in the ongoing SEC enforcement action against Binance and Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the SEC has started incorporating facts from the DOJ plea agreement. Stark emphasized that these settlements significantly enhance the SEC's case against Binance and CZ.