I'm really skeptical of Binance, whilst I would never accuse them of anything specific, I have no proof. Their structure, governance and business model combined with their refusal to meet basic regulatory requirements makes me feel uneasy.
Binance is effectively saying “I’m not going to tell you where I am but you should let me manage your money.” It takes a special kind of gullibility to accept that, but in the crypto world left has been right and black white for a very long time.
Binance’s US subsidiary is just as safe as FTX.US was, despite their claims otherwise. It will fall along with the other dominos.
Even the assets are questionable — as Tether’s attestation language change shows. They value their assets at what they’re worth “in normal market conditions” which is a flashing red light for bank run vulnerability.
Exchange is pretty simple business. Customers deposit coins and fiat, trade between them and pay you commissions. If you don't send any of those coins out, there is no risk, no liquidity crunches, no liabilities whatsoever. This guy took customer coins to gamble, and lost. Story as old as Romeo and Julia.
> If you don't send any of those coins out, there is no risk, no liquidity crunches, no liabilities whatsoever.
If you don't send any of those coins out, there are no profits for the exchange operator, either. Look at how Coinbase does everything more-or-less by the book, and barely makes money. Trading fees just don't cut it.
Yet, some fly-by-night exchange incorporated in the Bahamas is offering wild signup bonuses and lower fees and yield that would make Scrooge McDuck blush.
it looks like the usual nonsense of "here's some bank account balances", with no explanation of what liabilities they hold, or how much related party loan crime they have on their books.