<p>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that it intends to award a contract to blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace, pointing to its intention to track Binance Chain transactions.</p> <p>In a <a href="https://beta.sam.gov/opp/71f2fc6f265b4ebdb04c8f65ee4ea6df/view?keywords=binance&amp;sort=-relevance&amp;index=&amp;is_active=true&amp;page=1">notice published Wednesday</a>, the SEC said CipherTrace is the only known firm that supports Binance's native blockchain and all tokens issued on it, including Binance Coin (BNB). The notice was first reported by <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/sec-binance-ciphertrace" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CoinDesk</a>.<br /> <br /> A Binance spokesperson told The Block that Binance Chain is a "community-driven software system launched by Binance and community contributors" and that it's a "public blockchain. All transactions are public."</p> <p>The SEC said it would award the contract to CipherTrace on or before July 31. The contract would initially be of one year with four one-year option periods. <br /> <br /> The total value of the contract is yet to be determined. CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans told The Block: "As the blockchain ecosystem continues to mature, investors and regulators across the globe demand better transparency, security, and compliance."<br /> <br /> CipherTrace <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/blog/398373676637065216/CipherTrace-Announces-AML-OnChain-Analytics-for-Binance-Chain">added support</a> for Binance Chain in November 2019. Jevans said CipherTrace's clients, including regulators, can "browse the Binance Chain blockchain, identify high-risk addresses and set controls to protect decentralized applications (DApps), exchanges, or other cryptocurrency-based applications."<br /> <br /> Binance <a href="https://ciphertrace.com/binance-partners-with-ciphertrace-to-further-strengthen-compliance-culture/">itself started using</a> CipherTrace tools in April 2019 to enhance its anti-money laundering compliance program. In fact, Binance also uses CipherTrace rivals <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chainalysis-partners-with-binance-to-tackle-global-cryptocurrency-money-laundering-300732667.html">Chainalysis</a> and <a href="https://www.elliptic.co/press-releases/binance-partners-elliptic-compliance-security">Elliptic's</a> solutions to trace high-risk transactions. </p> <hr /> <p><span style="color: #999999;"><em>Update: This story has been updated to include comments from CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans </em></span></p>