Russian consumer group accuses Binance of market manipulation

National Union for the Protection of Consumers’ Rights (NSZPP) направил a letter to the Bank of Russia requesting measures against Binance. The public organisation accused the company and its chief Changpeng Zhao of manipulating the cryptocurrency market.

NSZPP said that Binance exerts global influence on price formation on other trading platforms, as it accounts for more than 50% of global cryptocurrency transactions. In the organisation’s view, Zhao Changpeng has a “monopoly on pricing” and uses this leverage for personal gain.

«Moreover, Changpeng Zhao has unlimited opportunities to open sell orders (artificially creating allegedly borrowed assets from himself), and unlimited opportunities to open buy orders with his own issued cryptocurrency BUSD. Thus, Binance has truly unprecedented capabilities for manipulating global cryptocurrency prices», — according to the statement [author’s punctuation and spelling].

The union noted that Binance has no headquarters or official address.

«The parent company Binance Holdings Ltd. is registered in the Cayman Islands. However, according to the Cayman Islands financial regulator, Binance is not registered and does not have a license to operate a cryptocurrency exchange in the country», — NSZPP asserts.

The company was also accused of orchestrating two major downturns in the cryptocurrency market — in May and December 2021. According to NSZPP, such incidents will recur because investors’ money “flows into Zhao’s pockets”.

NSZPP calls on the Bank of Russia to take measures against Binance under статьей 76.8-1 of the law “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation”. It gives regulators the right to “restrict the conclusion by non-credit financial organisations … contracts with individuals for the provision of financial services”.

The Bank of Russia may also require the company, at its own expense, to buy back from clients all assets purchased if, at the time of the deals, the latter were provided with “incomplete and (or) inaccurate information”.

Despite the seriousness of the accusations, NSZPP did not attach any evidence of market manipulation by Binance to its statement.

Regulators in several countries, including Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, took measures against the exchange.

The company admitted that one of the reasons for regulatory problems was its decentralized business model, and decided to abandon it.

In December, the media learned of a $750,000 fine, which the Turkish Financial Crimes Investigation Board levied on Binance.