Binance onboarded millions into finance but forgot the paperwork — Columbia professor

Recent events surrounding the crypto exchange Binance sparked significant debate about the United States’ crackdown on crypto firms. According to Omid Malekan, author and adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, the U.S. Department of Justice’s approach in the case differs significantly from what is seen in traditional finance. “People who sincerely believe that crypto is some unique enabler of bad people doing bad things don’t understand how the rest of the financial system actually works,”. Malekan also argued that many on Wall Street would be jailed if traditional firms were given the same treatment as Binance in similar cases. Despite criticism, Malekan believes the exchange was still “wrong to lie to its customers and wrong for not being compliant.” Binance and its co-founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, recently reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with the U.S. government for allegedly allowing individuals engaged in illicit activities to move “stolen funds” through the exchange. CZ stepped down as CEO as part of the settlement. The ICIJ organized over 400 journalists from 110 news organizations in 88 countries to investigate banks potentially involved in money laundering.