Binance pushes back against Reuters report alleging company commingled funds

Quick Take

  • Reuters reported earlier today that Binance commingled customer funds with revenue in 2020 and 2021, citing sources and records.
  • Binance CSO Patrick Hillmann called the report ‘weak.’

Crypto exchange Binance is pushing back against a Reuters report on Tuesday that alleges the company commingled customer funds with revenue in 2020 and 2021, calling the story "weak."

"They then pinned 1000 words of conspiracy theories (which we explained were false) with zero evidence other than a 'former insider," Binance chief strategy officer Patrick Hillmann wrote in a tweet. "We've been very public about where the company had regulatory shortcomings in the past."

Reuters, citing unnamed sources, reported that Binance commingled billions of dollars almost daily in accounts the company held at Silvergate Bank, the now-collapsed U.S. lender. In one instance on Feb. 10, 2021, Binance was alleged to have mixed $20 million from a corporate account with $15 million from an account that received customer money, the news outlet reported, citing bank records.

Binance spokesperson Brad Jaffe told Reuters that the Silvergate Bank accounts were not used to accept user deposits and rather used to facilitate user purchases of crypto. "There was no commingling at any time because these are 100% corporate funds," Jaffe said.

In March, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance for allegedly operating an “illegal” exchange and a “sham” compliance program. CFTC, in its complaint at the time, also said that certain Binance entities “have commingled funds.”

A Binance spokesperson referred The Block to Hillmann's tweets, declining to comment on the Reuters report.

Hillmann said in followup tweets that Binance keeps "user and corporate funds on completely separate ledgers." He didn't explicitly say that the company does not commingle customer funds.


© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

AUTHOR

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block and the author of The Funding newsletter. As our longest-serving editorial member, Yogita has been instrumental in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With over 3,000 articles to her name, Yogita is The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Before joining The Block, Yogita wrote for CoinDesk and The Economic Times. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her latest updates on X at @Yogita_Khatri5.

See More
Connect on

Editor

To contact the editor of this story: Nathan Crooks at [email protected]

WHO WE ARE

The Block is a news provider that strives to be the first and final word on digital assets news, research, and data.

+ Follow us on Google News
Connect with the block on