Binance Moved Funds From US Affiliate's Silvergate Bank Account in 2021: Reuters

Crypto exchange Binance moved around $400 million in funds from Binance US's Silvergate Bank account to a trading firm called Merit Peak, Reuters reported Thursday.

According to the report, Binance moved the funds between January and March 2021 from BAM Trading's Silvergate account. BAM Trading is the name of the entity operating Binance US. Merit Peak is a trading firm the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating over its ties to Binance.

Binance itself lacks the licenses to operate in the U.S.

Former Binance US CEO Catherine Coley reportedly asked about the funds and their transfers at the end of 2020. Coley departed Binance US in April 2021, and has not held a public role at a crypto company since then.

A Binance spokesperson told CoinDesk it was "a Binance.US issue." A spokesperson told Reuters that the news organization had "outdated information" but did not appear to address the transfers.

While Binance US spokespeople did not return a request for comment, the company's Twitter account tweeted that "only Binance.US employees have access to Binance.US bank accounts," and noted that Merit Peak has not operated on Binance US since 2021. The tweet did not appear to address many of the details in the Reuters report.

Silvergate's (SI) stock is down 17% on the day. Bitcoin's (BTC) price remained around the $25,000 mark, up on the day's trading.

UPDATE (Feb. 16, 2023, 20:05 UTC): Adds market reaction.

UPDATE (Feb. 17, 2023, 00:20 UTC): Adds Binance US tweet.