Binance Cryptocurrency Under Investigation

Binance Coin (BNB) is being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether the token was illegally sold as a security.

According to Bloomberg , the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently focusing on the origins of Binance Holdings and the BNB token. In it, the agency will investigate whether the initial offering (ICO) of BNB in ​​2017 was conducted in a similar way to the sale of a security token. If so, Binance could be charged with selling unregistered securities.

Observers say that the scrutiny of BNB could signal a worrisome future for Binance's token. The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is also facing a number of investigations around the world.

The US currently restricts the Binance exchange, only allowing operations under the domain name Binance.us instead of Binance.com. In addition to the SEC, Binance is also in the sights of the US Department of Justice, the US Internal Revenue Service and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

When asked, Binance said "it is not the right time to comment on the actions of regulators". The company affirmed that it will continue to work with the authorities and meet the requirements set forth.

Meanwhile, the SEC declined to comment.

BNB is currently the world's fifth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with nearly $50 billion. Initially, Binance issued 200 million tokens, with half through an ICO. Currently, the total supply of this coin is just over 165 million tokens.

When it first launched, BNB was priced at just $0.15 per coin and peaked last year at nearly $700 per coin, then hovered around $300-400. After the information was investigated by the SEC, the price of BNB dropped by more than 10%, from $ 310 to $ 276.