LONDON : Merit Peak, an offshore trading company controlled by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, received around $11 billion of client assets through a Seychelles-based firm set up to take customer deposits, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows.
In response to the SEC's lawsuit, Binance said it would defend its platform vigorously."All user assets on Binance and Binance affiliate platforms, including Binance.US, are safe and secure," it said in a statement on Monday. Binance did not respond to Reuters' emailed questions on the filing, and a spokesperson did not respond to a voice message.
The SEC said in its lawsuit that Merit Peak, which described itself as trading with the"self-made wealth" of Zhao, operated on both the Binance.com and Binance.US platforms. Some Zhao-owned accounts have sent monies"offshore" over the last few months, the SEC wrote in the filing.