Under intensive regulatory pressure, Binance Exchange is still moving forward. Although it has encountered legal turmoil in the United States, it has received frequent praise in another financial center, Hong Kong. The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is gradually achieving its century-old strategic goal.

After being fined $4.3 billion by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating money laundering and sanctions regulations last year, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance is now facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States. Even its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who was imprisoned at the end of May this year and is expected to be released from prison at the end of September, is among the defendants.

It is reported that three former Binance users, Philip Martin, Natalie Tang and Yatin Khanna, filed a class action lawsuit against Binance and Zhao Changpeng in the Seattle Federal Court on August 16, accusing Binance of laundering money for criminals through its platform and damaging consumer interests.

The plaintiffs claimed that their cryptocurrencies were transferred to Binance by the attackers after being stolen in an attempt to erase the transaction records of digital assets and make the funds untraceable. They also pointed out that Binance, as a cryptocurrency money laundering empire, allowed hackers, thieves and other criminals to launder their illegal gains on the platform. Otherwise, based on the transparency of blockchain transactions, the authorities could have recovered their stolen assets in a timely manner. Therefore, the lawsuit accused Binance of playing an important role in the money laundering process and making huge profits from it, and Binance's actions also constituted illegal extortion, violating the Racketeer and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act)".

In response to the class action lawsuit, Bill Hughes, senior legal counsel at Ethereum development company Consensys, said he was skeptical about whether these allegations could be established, arguing that the plaintiff must be able to prove that Binance was indeed responsible for these illegal activities. He pointed out that after the US government filed charges against Binance, this new class action lawsuit, although a natural and foreseeable follow-up civil lawsuit, also put Binance in a "difficult situation."

Hughes believes that if the case develops further, it may have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency industry. If the case enters the in-depth investigation stage or even enters the decisive pre-trial motion, the effectiveness of blockchain analysis and on-chain asset recovery will become the focus of the trial and attract the attention of relevant law enforcement agencies.

However, Binance has actively taken security measures in recent years and has continued to assist users in recovering and freezing stolen assets. In 2024 alone, it successfully recovered more than $73 million in funds, of which about 80% were related to external hacker attacks, vulnerabilities and thefts. Such an attitude may also make the judge believe that at least Binance is not a murderer who assists in the crime subjectively.

And what’s interesting is that in this environment where the United States is accusing Binance, Binance recently received a letter of thanks from the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB) of the Hong Kong Police Force, thanking Binance for its contribution in the investigation of a recent major kidnapping case. Through the platform’s intelligence analysis, it assisted the police in successfully identifying suspects from the criminal group.

The letter of thanks was sent by OCTB Senior Superintendent Au Yeung Siu Kong to Binance and Carlos Mak, a member of the Binance investigation team. In addition to the assistance in the case, the Hong Kong Police stated that it recognizes the need for collective efforts in combating criminal activities using emerging technologies, and also recognizes and praises Binance's proactive stance in cooperating with law enforcement agencies to combat emerging financial crimes.

Regarding the different attitudes of all parties, Richard Teng, the current CEO of Binance, said that Binance is making global layout and seeking long-term development. In the past two years, Binance has been under regulatory scrutiny due to its scale, and has been sued in the United States, Canada, the Philippines and Nigeria. The outside world is worried that CZ's criminal status may make it difficult for Binance to obtain regulatory approval, but this is not as serious as imagined. The continued and in-depth good relationship with regulators in various countries is diluting these problems.

Binance is working to increase transparency, including a 36% increase in spending on compliance last year compared to 2022; plans to recruit at least 1,000 employees in the near future, of which at least 20% will be responsible for compliance; and is constantly looking for places to take root in order to establish better relationships with global regulators, thereby guiding the company in a more future-proof direction.

Teng emphasized: “Binance is actively atonement and expects to operate in a more transparent and regulated manner in the future. We acknowledge past mistakes and have paid a heavy price. Looking forward, we will continue to work hard to build an extremely robust and sustainable enterprise that will not only succeed in the next few years, but continue to thrive in the next 50 to 100 years.”

At present, Binance has resolved these issues in many jurisdictions around the world, and has recently obtained a number of relevant operating licenses and reached settlements. It is reported that Binance already has 19 licenses worldwide, and has recently been approved in Thailand, India and Brazil, which involves a lot of cultural and legal complexities.

Take Nigeria, for example, where Binance’s American employee Tigran Gambaryan is currently detained. Nigeria claims without evidence that cryptocurrencies are responsible for the devaluation of its currency, the naira, and local law enforcement has accused Gambaryan of money laundering and tax evasion. Nigeria has finally demanded $10 billion in exchange for his release, which, frankly, sounds a lot like a ransom demand.

As for the United States, American cryptocurrency companies often complain about the uncertainty of doing business in the United States due to the lack of legislation and the slowness of regulators from the SEC and CFTC to provide clear guidance on what is allowed and what is not allowed in digital assets. Although the United States was once an important market for Binance, it seems that due to the country's unclear regulatory framework and the pending lawsuit against Binance.US, Binance currently has no plans to expand its business in the United States.

As for the upcoming US election, people in the cryptocurrency industry and the community are eagerly looking forward to Trump's victory, hoping to bring a more friendly regulatory environment to the crypto field. However, Binance does not have much expectations for this, and the election results do not mean much to Binance. Because Binance is really concerned about markets outside the United States, even if it pays attention to what is happening in the United States, it will not have any impact on Binance's business.

It is also worth mentioning that in the past six months, with the approval of cryptocurrency spot ETFs and the Bitcoin halving event, there are rumors that several large cryptocurrency companies are seeking to go public by taking advantage of the current cryptocurrency cycle, but Teng said: "Although giants such as Circle are preparing for listing, Binance is satisfied with its current ownership structure. Our financial situation is very strong. Since the fifth month of Binance's operation (2017), it has been profitable and very cautious in spending, so there is really no need for Binance to consider any financing or IPO at present."

In short, Binance is undoubtedly a key player in the cryptocurrency industry. The legal disputes it encountered reflect the regulatory dilemma faced by the entire industry. Under such circumstances, Binance is still moving forward steadily along its own path, which undoubtedly demonstrates Binance's confidence and determination in its own development. Looking to the future, Binance will further expand globally, and by continuously optimizing products and improving user experience, it may eventually become a "century-old store."