Peter Brandt Issues Warning against Binance and BNB Amid Allegations of Sanction Violations

Binance comes under public scrutiny amid allegations that it continues to process transactions for five sanctioned Russian financial institutions. 

A recent Wall Street Journal Report has alleged that Binance continues to facilitate transactions connected to Rosbank, Tinkoff Bank, and three others in what many believe could heighten the exchange’s spawning legal problems in the United States. 

Per the report, the leading exchange is still managing substantial amounts of Russia’s national currency, the ruble, and facilitating the conversion of funds held in sanctioned banks into crypto balances.

Meanwhile, Russian traders still face restrictions from conducting P2P transactions that involve the Euro and the U.S. dollar.

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These restrictions result from numerous sanctions by Western powers and the European Union against Russia after the attack on Ukraine in 2022.

However, the WSJ report contradicts previous public statements where Binance denied going against global sanction rules.

According to an earlier statement by the exchange’s spokesperson, Binance was committed to enforcing sanctions on organizations, individuals, nations, and entities on the international community blacklist.

The spokesperson said Binance has no ties with financial institutions in Russia or any other country and would never collaborate with traditional banks on the sanctions lists.

This news comes only a few months after Binance lifted certain restrictions on users in Russia.

According to multiple reports in April 2023, Russian customers on Binance could once again deposit funds through their banks without the £10,000 limit imposed by the European Union’s sanctions.

It bears mentioning that some of the sanctions that the E.U. imposed on Binance Russia in 2022 include restrictions on balances exceeding £10,000 in assets.

Peter Brandt Calls Binance ‘Global Scam,’ Says BNB is Cheap Fiat

In a recent post on X, renowned veteran trader Peter Brandt warned his followers about Binance and its native exchange BNB.

While responding to a tweet by digital assets investor Mike Alfred, Brandt labeled Binance Coin (BNB) a cheap fiat and called Binance a global scam.

I have stated for years that CZ and @binance is a global scam and $BNB just a cheap fiat. Watch it all unravel https://t.co/B1SRFFWgY0

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) August 22, 2023

The tweet he responded to was an outcry by Mike Alfred on the exchange’s alleged BTC dumps in what the crypto community sees as Binance CEO CZ’s attempt to hold up BNB’s value.

As The Crypto Basic reported yesterday, in light of this, Alfred requested Binance users to withdraw their balances due to allegations of a dying Binance Coin and a weakening BUSD. Brandt’s latest remarks add fuel to the fire.

However, this is not the first that Brandt has labeled particular digital assets as scams. In a June 2023 report from The Crypto Basic, the popular trader said all cryptocurrencies, except for Bitcoin, were scams.

Binance’s steep regulatory uphill

Binance is still under investigation by the United States Department of Justice over suspected money laundering, violation of securities laws, and failure to comply with global sanction laws.

It also bears mentioning that the exchange has had difficulty penetrating markets within the European jurisdictions. For this reason, the exchange withdrew business in Cyprus, Netherlands, and Germany.

Many issues around money laundering and tax evasion have also come into the spotlight during Binance Malta and Ireland investigations.

Furthermore, legal complications in North America saw the exchange withdraw from Canada and face charges from the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).