Binance

U.S.-based customers of the Binance exchange’s Binance.US unit are now able to use the Binance.US Pay payments system to send money on their mobile app.

The feature has been available to Binance clients outside the U.S. since it was launched in February 2021. At the time, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said payments are one of the “most obvious use cases for crypto.”

Binance.US Pay is intended to allow users to send, request and receive almost 150 different cryptocurrencies from other users, enabling instant, zero-cost crypto transfers.

Binance.US recently eliminated trading fees for bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) in an effort to attract more users during a time when crypto trading volume has been low.

Its new payment system “eliminates the complexities of transferring crypto to contacts as users no longer need to enter a complex deposit or withdrawal address, pay gas fees or wait an unspecified amount of time for transactions to successfully settle,” the company said.

Binance.US users will be able to use the feature immediately, and the exchange is also working on a web version.

The collapse of FTX was triggered by Binance, investor Kevin O’Leary claimed at a Dec. 14 United States Senate committee hearing about the crypto exchange’s meltdown. O’Leary, who was a paid spokesperson for FTX, provided details about conversations with Sam Bankman-Fried in the days before FTX filed for bankruptcy.

During his testimony, O’Leary said he had questioned SBF regarding how customer funds were used in the past 24 months and were told that almost $3 billion were used to repurchase shares of FTX owned by Binance.

When asked by Senator Patrick Toomey why FTX failed, O’Leary replied, “I have an opinion. I don’t have the records,” before revealing his view that the heads of Binance and FTX were at war.

O’Leary said that regulation was at the core of the silent war between the heads of the two crypto exchanges. As owners of a nearly 20% stake in FTX, Binance and Changpeng “CZ” Zhao had to comply with regulators’ requests and compliance standards in different jurisdictions.

“Apparently, according to Sam Bankman-Fried, CZ would not comply with regulators’ requests in different jurisdictions to provide the data that would clear them [FTX] for a license […] The only option the management and Sam Bankman-Fried had was to buy him out at an extraordinary valuation close to $32 billion.”
The share purchases hurt FTX’s balance sheet, said O’Leary, and Zhao’s decision to liquidate Binance’s FTX token (FTT) holdings at the beginning of November, citing “recent revelations that have come to light,” and “post-exit risk management” reasons, was intended to push down the token’s price. O’Leary stated:

“In my view, my personal opinion, these two in an unregulated market with this incredible business in terms of growth were at war with each other, and one put the other out of business, intentionally. Now, maybe there is nothing wrong with that, maybe there is nothing wrong with love and war, but Binance is a massive unregulated global monopoly now, and they put FTX out of business.”
O’Leary also spoke out in favour of a cryptocurrency regulatory framework during his speech:

“This nascent industry is culling its herd. Going or gone are the inexperienced or incompetent managers, weak business models and rogue unregulated operators. Hopefully, these highly publicized events will put renewed focus on implementing domestic regulation that has been stalled for years. Other jurisdictions have already implemented such policies and are now attracting both investment capital and highly skilled talent. In the U.S., we are falling behind and losing our leadership position.”

O’Leary was paid nearly $15 million for his service as a spokesperson for FTX. He reportedly lost over $10 million in tokens held at FTX due to its collapse.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has called for “global regulatory frameworks for crypto markets.” The company has also launched a “Crypto Is Evil” ad campaign featuring “10 Fundamental Rights for Crypto Users.”

Binance Pushes for Global Crypto Regulation, Introduces ‘Crypto Is Evil’ Ads
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance called for “global regulatory frameworks for crypto markets” Tuesday with a publication of “10 Fundamental Rights for Crypto Users” and several crypto ads in major newspapers.

The 10 Fundamental Rights for Crypto Users “can serve as a guiding hand in regulatory discussions and development of global frameworks for crypto markets,” the company explained. The exchange believes that they “will serve as a guiding point to launch more productive conversations with the larger industry, including other exchanges, blockchain innovators, policymakers and world leaders.”

Noting that “The future of crypto needs to be user-focused,” Binance detailed:

The customer rights, as described in a series of advertisements published today globally, are meant to ensure safe access to emerging technologies, liquidity, and secure platforms among other steps to ‘protect users without limiting growth and innovation.’

The same ad titled “Crypto Is Evil” appears in major publications, such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Financial Times.

A portion of the ad reads: “When it comes to crypto, don’t let the headlines fool you. There’s a world beyond bitcoin and dogecoin, one where financial opportunity is accessible to everyone, not just the privileged few. Crypto belongs to all of us.” It also lists all 10 Fundamental Rights for Crypto Users.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao commented:

Regulation and innovation are not mutually exclusive. We want to do everything possible as an industry to work with regulators and world leaders to identify what is going to be the effective regulatory policy that, most importantly, protects users and spurs innovation.

Many regulators worldwide have warned about Binance operating without authorization in their jurisdictions, including the U.K., Netherlands, South Africa, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Lithuania, Italy, Singapore, and Canada. U.S. authorities are also investigating Binance for possible market manipulation and insider trading.

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