Oh how the tables turn. It was only last year that FTX's former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried ('SBF') was as a fraudster by competitor Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao ('CZ') for allegedly trying to stab his company in the back by with regulators and lawmakers in Washington, D.C. outed getting in bed The ensuing drama and Twitter feud resulted in a winner-takes-all bloodbath that collapsed FTX and left Binance as the largest crypto exchange in the world and CZ with a reputation of someone you don't want to trifle with. Now, it seems, Binance is charged with the same crimes that caused FTX's downfall. One of the reasons for FTX's troubles were revelations that the company was its customers' funds with Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency trading firm co-founded and controlled by SBF. In fact, according to , FTX came into existence specifically so SBF and his friends could funnel money from their cryptocurrency exchange into Alameda Research to make riskier and riskier trading bets. None of these high-risk, high-reward bets panned out, prompting Alameda to 'borrow' even more money from FTX in transactions not known to the broader public. co-mingling The New York Times So when CZ decided that his company would exit its entire position in FTX's native token FTT over liquidity concerns, the public announcement caused a bank run and CZ's proclaiment became a self-fulfilling prophecy as FTX found itself unable to pay investors who were exiting their positions because it had been lending money to Alameda Research instead. The whole thing has been documented to the moon and back, so we're not going to bore you with the details, but one thing that caught our eye was a change in CZ's approach to regulation. For a brief period, it seemed that CZ was going to bear the torch of regulation after SBF was no longer welcome by all the lawmakers he rubbed shoulders with. Well, it seems CZ's wish has come true because The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission has come knockin' on Binance's door and dragged world no. 2 Coinbase into the foray. Last week, the U.S. regulator Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for engaging in "an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law." In its lawsuit, the regulator further alleged that Binance artificially inflated its trading volumes, , failed to restrict U.S. customers from its platform and misled investors about its market surveillance controls, Reuters . sued diverted customer funds reported A day later, it was Coinbase's turn. In its , the U.S. regulator Coinbase had since at least 2019 made billions of dollars by operating as a middleman on crypto transactions, while evading disclosure requirements meant to protect investors. lawsuit said Both exchanges have denied the allegations and plan to defend themselves in court, though that hasn't stopped investors from panicking, with Coinbase and Binance each seeing in negative net outflow in the first 24 hours since the lawsuits dropped. more than $1 billion Keeping the SEC allegations aside, at issue also seems to be whether cryptocurrency are securities. Binance and Coinbase argue that they are not and the SEC is overreaching with its jurisdiction in the crypto sphere, though experts believe the regulator, under the leadership of Gary Gensler, will continue to bring tokens specifically because it does not agree with that characterization. to task So while the big guys duke it out in court, most of the smaller exchanges are expected to and collapse. cave into pressure We'll keep you updated as things play out. For now, is seeing a massive increase in trending interest, ranking at the #4 spot on HackerNoon's . Binance Tech Company Rankings 👋 You’re reading of HackerNoon's Tech Company News Brief, a weekly collection of tech goodness that combines HackerNoon's proprietary data with internet trends to determine which companies are rising and falling in the public consciousness. goes live tomorrow. Hate waiting? No problemo! Just subscribe to receive the newsletter a day early in your inbox. part 1 Part 2 here complete In Other News.. 📰 is clawing back at , looking to its own AI "superchip" to compete against Team Green, which already dominates the AI computing market with 80% to 95% of market share. AMD Nvidia launch The UK will the first major global summit on AI safety later this year. host was to convince the German government to give it more subsidies for the currently in construction advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility near Magdeburg, Germany. Intel unable In an apparent FU to , is refusing to pay its Google Cloud bills as its contract comes up for renewal this month, Platformer . Google Twitter reports Reddit's decision to charge exorbitant prices for via its API is with its userbase. third-party apps not sitting well And that's a wrap! Don't forget to share this newsletter with your family and friends! See y'all next week. PEACE! ☮️ — Sheharyar Khan, Editor, Business Tech @ HackerNoon

This story contains new, firsthand information uncovered by the writer.

Read My Stories

Too Long; Didn't Read

Making security fun one episode at a time

Is This the End of Crypto? 🔥 🔥 🔥

Too Long; Didn't Read

Sheharyar Khan

STORY’S CREDIBILITY

Original Reporting

About Author

TOPICS

Languages

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN...

Is This the End of Crypto? 🔥 🔥 🔥

Too Long; Didn't Read

STORY’S CREDIBILITY

Original Reporting

About Author

TOPICS

Languages

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN...

RELATED STORIES