Abnormal pricing fluctuations on Binance prompted an internal probe.
Abnormal price fluctuations on Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, prompted an internal inquiry, with CEO Changpeng Zhao determining that the price fluctuations were “simply market behavior” despite briefly restricting withdrawals for certain profitable accounts.
At 3:10 a.m. ET, Binance’s official Twitter account announced the probe. Later, it was determined that the strange pricing fluctuations were not due to hacked accounts or stolen API credentials. Included among the engaged trade pairs were Sun Token, Ardor, Osmosis, FUNToken, and Golem.
“Based on our first research, this looks to be normal market activity,” “CZ” Zhao tweeted before explaining: “One individual deposited cash and began purchasing. Others followed suit. Cannot discover any connection between the accounts.”
Still, Binance “temporarily banned withdrawals on some of the profitable accounts,” according to the exchange’s CEO, triggering discussions about the role of centralized exchanges and the extent to which they should act.
“We are aware of the idea of excessive platform interference,” CZ tweeted, adding, “There is a balance between how much we should intervene and how much we should not.” Occasionally, this occurs in a free market, and we must let it play out.”
