Crypto Moguls Facing Charges in the U.S. Hint at Blockchain Integration Plans

Tron CEO Justin Sun has floated plans to integrate BNB on the and BNB Chain, even as he faces charges fromU.S. regulators.

Today, the Tron CEO promised the Tron community that he would get Binance’s BNB coin on the TRON blockchain. 

TRON Community Bullish on BNB as CEO Promises Integration

came after the TRON community asked and Zhao to make BNB available on the TRON network. 

Social launchpad MaskPad, which allows crypto projects to raise funds through a social media presence, commented that BNB’s utility would complement the privacy and speed of TRON.

Sun, the CEO of peer-to-peer file-sharing service BitTorrent, launched the TRON blockchain in Sep. 2017 to decentralize the internet. TRON is a smart contract blockchain that uses the TRONIX token as a unit of account. The blockchain uses delegated proof-of-stake as the consensus mechanism. 

Holders of TRONIX can vote for block producers, which receive the token as a reward for confirming transactions. The rewards are distributed among the people who voted for the block producer.

To make BNB available on without the inherent security risks of cross-chain bridges would require the BNB token to operate atop a multi-chain framework like that created by Centre, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin

Binance announced support for its Binance-peg BUSD token on the TRON network late last year. Users could deposit and withdraw the Binance-peg version of BUSD. 

Zhao founded BINANCE in mid-2017 after developing trading and exchange systems for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Bloomberg. The exchange was among the first to conduct an initial coin offering) for its BNB coin in China. The company moved out of Shanghai after the Chinese government banned ICOs. After the Japanese government prevented Binance from selling crypto assets to its residents in 2018, Binance stopped revealing its physical location.

SEC Charges Facing TRON CEO

On March 22, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Sun, the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, Rainberry Inc, and several celebrities for selling TRX and BTT tokens as unregistered securities to the public.

The SEC also alleged Sun used the three companies to conduct TRX wash trading. He allegedly did this to simulate genuine investor interest in the asset. The SEC also accused celebrities Austin Mahone and DeAndre Cortex Way of promoting TRX and BTT without disclosing compensation.

The SEC has asked the courts to prevent Sun, his companies, and the celebrities from violating the Securities Act and any offer or securities sale. Additionally, Mahone and Way should be precluded from receiving further compensation. They should also be ordered to disgorge profits from securities law violations. Defendants must also pay additional civil and monetary penalties.

CFTC Lawsuit Against Binance

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued Zhao, former Binance chief compliance officer Samuel Lim, Binance Holdings Limited, Binance Holdings (IE) Limited, and Binance (Services) Holdings Limited for offering U.S. entities access to its derivatives trading desk without registering as a derivatives exchange with the agency.

The CFTC has accused Binance of encouraging top-tier U.S. clients to use virtual private networks to circumvent geographical restrictions Binance had on its international platform.

It also alleges that Binance had lax controls to prevent anti-money laundering and terrorist activity on its platform.

The CFTC has asked courts to issue injunctions preventing Binance, Zhao, and Lim from violating the Commodity Exchange Act. The court should also compel them to make restitution to customers or investors whose funds were used to violate the Act.

Binance and TRON Cases Will Define Crypto’s Future

Both Sun and Zhao crypto moguls likely face a court battle that U.S. regulators will use to set an example for industry players who don’t comply with existing securities and commodities laws.

The SEC has filed several suits against crypto projects for offering unregistered securities, including Ripple Labs and the decentralized media platform

If found , Binance would have to pay billions of dollars in damages potentially. Legal fees would likely be substantial, and Binance may find it difficult to find banking partners and market makers.

Integrating BNB on TRON would likely strengthen Binance’s position in the market. It would also pave the way for the greater cross-chain utility of BNB in a decentralized internet.