CZ Denies Binance.US Used Ceffu or Binance Custody in Apparent Contradiction

Crypto tycoon Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has denied that his speech Binance’s U.S. limb utilized a custody bundle provided by its planetary counterpart, successful an evident contradiction with erstwhile statements by Binance.US successful ineligible filings.

Binance Custody, a wallet work aboriginal rebranded Ceffu, is astatine the halfway of a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is seeking assurances that the U.S. exchange’s assets won’t beryllium transferred overseas.

“For the record, Binance.US does not use, and person NEVER utilized Ceffu oregon Binance Custody,” CZ, who is Binance's laminitis and main enforcement officer, said successful a Tuesday station connected societal web X, antecedently Twitter, the time aft the SEC and Binance.US squared disconnected successful a Washington, DC tribunal connected the issue.

That stands successful stark opposition to erstwhile statements made by lawyers for the U.S. speech – identified arsenic BAM successful tribunal filings –which said that Binance.US had utilized custody bundle provided by planetary limb Binance Holdings Ltd (BHL), a programme that was aboriginal marketed arsenic Ceffu.

BAM “relies connected wallet custody bundle developed by BHL to support the integer plus wallets that clasp overmuch of its customers’ assets,” said a Sept. 12 tribunal filing by Binance.US, which is seeking to shingle disconnected SEC charges it operated an unregistered crypto exchange, adding that erstwhile the institution aboriginal “learned that BHL was readying to marketplace the bundle commercially nether the sanction ‘Ceffu,’ it adopted the sanction arsenic a shorthand notation to the software, including successful correspondence with the SEC."

"While BAM referred to the BHL bundle arsenic 'Ceffu,' it ne'er suggested that it licensed bundle from immoderate entity different than BHL," the filing by Binance.US added. "BAM has been wide that it relies connected wallet custody bundle licensed from BHL successful each its correspondence with the SEC and submissions to this Court."

In a further tribunal filing the SEC says is Binance.US' Digital Asset and Custody Operations Policy, the U.S. steadfast states that it licensed custody bundle and enactment services from Ceffu, which the papers says was antecedently BHL, again appearing to contradict CZ's tweet.

Ceffu – rebranded from Binance Custody successful February – past week denied that it had provided services to Binance.US, oregon that it operated successful the state astatine all, but its narration to Binance remains a grey area.

An Aug. 3 screengrab of the Ceffu website, detected and published by the SEC, suggests Ireland-based Binance Institutional Holdings Limited controls the custodian's trademarks and information and describes a Singaporean entity named Binance Institutional SG Pte arsenic 1 of its operating arms. References to Binance look to person been removed successful an Aug. 8 website update.

Binance.US and CZ person not responded to requests for further clarity.

UPDATE (Sept. 19, 15:04 UTC): adds notation to Binance.US custody policy