Binance Suspends Staff Over Insider Trading Probe, Awards $100K to Whistleblowers

In Brief:

Binance has suspended an employee for allegedly front-running a token launch using confidential info from a prior role at BNB Chain.

The staff member gained improper profits by purchasing tokens pre-announcement, Binance confirmed.

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Binance announced the suspension of an employee following an internal investigation into alleged misconduct involving insider trading. The employee reportedly used non-public information from their previous role at BNB Chain to front-run a Token Generation Event, purchasing tokens before any public disclosures.

According to Binance, the individual used multiple wallet addresses to accumulate tokens and sold a portion of them shortly after the announcement, earning substantial profits while still holding a large position with unrealized gains.

Binance emphasized that the employee joined the Wallet team just one month ago, having previously worked in business development for BNB Chain. The exchange stressed there’s no evidence the current team was involved and said it has no business ties with the project under investigation.

The exchange is cooperating with authorities and plans legal action. In a show of transparency, Binance awarded $100,000 to four whistleblowers whose reports led to the internal audit.

This incident mirrors a previous case at Coinbase involving former employee Ishan Wahi, reinforcing the industry's ongoing struggles with insider trading concerns.

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