Binance had secret access to a Silvergate, $SI, bank account belonging to its purportedly independent U.S. partner and transferred $400 million from the account to a trading firm managed by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

Binance had secret access to a Silvergate, $SI, bank account belonging to its purportedly independent U.S. partner and transferred $400 million from the account to a trading firm managed by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, per Reuters.

Over the first three months of 2021, more than $400 million flowed from the Binance.US account at California-based Silvergate Bank to this trading firm, Merit Peak Ltd, according to records for the quarter, which were reviewed by Reuters.

Reuters couldn't determine the reason for the transfers or whether any of the money belonged to Binance.US customers. The exchange's public terms of use at the time said its customers' dollar deposits were held at Silvergate and a Nevada-based custodian firm called Prime Trust LLC. Prime Trust made $650 million in wire transfer deposits into the Binance.US account during the quarter, the bank records show.

Reuters was unable to trace what became of the $400 million. An unspecified portion of the money was subsequently sent to the Silvergate account of a Seychelles-incorporated firm called Key Vision Development Limited, according to a person with direct knowledge of the transfers. A 2021 corporate filing by another Binance unit identified CEO Zhao as a director of Key Vision. A former Silvergate executive confirmed that Key Vision held an account at Silvergate at the time.

Read Reuter's report: https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-giant-binance-moved-400-million-us-partner-firm-managed-by-ceo-zhao-2023-02-16/