Crypto skeptic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and a Senate colleague are asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Binance lied to lawmakers about its business practices.
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Warren and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Binance may have lied about whether U.S. subsidiary Binance.US really operated as an independent entity.
“This is a serious matter,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.
Binance and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.
“It appears that Binance and Binance.US undermined this important investigation and the legislative process by providing false and misleading information to Congress,” the senators wrote.
On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao for allegedly violating U.S. securities laws. In a 136-page complaint, the regulator laid out 13 charges that included offering unregistered securities and mishandling customer funds. The complaint also alleges that Binance and CZ allowed and encouraged U.S. customers to trade on the main Binance.com exchange when they should have been restricted to the Binance.US platform.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said the crypto industry needs to make some serious changes because currently “it’s the Wild West, with a bunch of casino operators.”
“The business models need to adjust to come into compliance,” Gensler said. “That may be hard work, but it’s going to promote trust in this field.”
