According to reports, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has cautioned employees about their internal communications in light of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday. In a memo obtained by Odaily Planet Daily and translated, CZ allegedly wrote, “Be aware that anything you say may eventually be used as evidence in court or made public on the internet.”
The executive’s cautionary message comes in the wake of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) disclosure of chat logs between this exchange employees, including “Sam Lim,” the former compliance lead, and “Alvin,” the Head of Business Development. In these private conversations, the employees were found discussing the possibility of selling off their BNB tokens before their value declined and casually acknowledged their involvement in running an unlicensed securities exchange. These conversations align with the SEC’s accusations against Binance.
Additionally, Lim was discovered explaining a method by which an entity could become a client of the Binance US platform while covertly being permitted to trade on Binance.com’s international exchange through a “special arrangement,” which CZ would supposedly approve. In his communication to the staff, CZ downplayed the significance of the chat logs, referring to them as a mere “complaint” from two individuals.
However, he acknowledged that the incident had significantly harmed the company’s reputation and cautioned that the SEC would probably request the exchange’s chat records as part of its ongoing investigation.
Binance CEO Sets the Record Straight
The CEO made it clear that he does not monitor employee conversations and that he was seeing those specific chat logs for the first time. He expressed his disbelief that the SEC would highlight those logs in such a manner, but stated that the legal team would handle the situation. In the translated memo published on Odaily, Zhao also advised employees who were not content with working there to seriously contemplate their career choices.
CZ, on Thursday, refuted the allegations made by the SEC that this exchange had transferred billions of dollars in customer funds from Binance and Binance US to his personal company, Merit Peak. He emphasized that all user funds were properly accounted for and had not been moved from the Binance.US platform, unless users themselves initiated withdrawals. In his statement, he asserted, “All user funds are accounted for, and never left the http://Binance.US platform (unless users withdraw themselves of course), ever.”