The June 2023 lawsuit by the SEC accused Binance and Binance.US of using wash trades to inflate trading volumes, misappropriating customer assets to firms owned by Changpeng Zhao, and falsely claiming to have effective market surveillance systems.

Quotes that support claims

The SEC claimed that Binance offered and sold unregistered securities... and misled investors about its market surveillance and controls, citing instances of wash trading that artificially inflated trading volumes.

The complaint alleged the platform inflated trading volumes through wash trades, diverted customer assets to market-making firms controlled by Zhao, and misled investors about surveillance systems designed to deter manipulation.