Binance, the largest crypto exchange, had secret access to the bank account of Silvergate Bank, an independent American partner of Binance US. About it writes Reuters, citing sources in the company.

Binance transferred large sums from the US Binance account to Merit Peak, which was run by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. This
confirmed in bank records and internal communications of the company, the newspaper writes.

According to the records, the Binance.US account was registered under the name BAM Trading. Company reports indicate that transfers to Merit Peak began in late 2020. Reuters journalists were unable to determine the reason for the transfer of money.

In December, news broke that the US Department of Justice had been investigating Binance since 2018 for possible non-compliance with laws and sanctions. Binance has publicly denied these reports and accused the news outlets of the attacks.

Zhao claimed that entire newsrooms in a number of media outlets were funded and worked for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to publish negative stories about Binance.

In February, Binance Holdings Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann said that the company expects to comply with all conditions necessary to complete the investigations, and also intends to pay monetary penalties to address the consequences of identified violations.