An official with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Tuesday she hopes to reach a “path forward” in the regulator’s legal battle with crypto exchange Binance, noting that a decision has not been made on whether to settle or take the case to court. Kristin N. Johnson, the CFTC commissioner, said the regulator has been conversing with Binance to address its concerns about the company’s conduct. The CFTC sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao, and its former compliance officer last month, alleging that Binance solicited U.S. users through its platform and allowed them to trade derivatives without authorization.
Binance said it would stop operating in the U.S. in 2019. “I want to be really careful not to prejudge what will actually happen in the litigation. And I want to say that typically, in the context of any litigation, we are always ready to have conversations and typically even ahead of the litigation,” Johnson said in an interview with CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal Tuesday. “We’ve been in continuing conversations with the business to describe what we understand is potentially problematic conduct and to give them an opportunity to explain that conduct and to help us find a path forward.” “As of the moment, we can conclude that there is not an immediate path forward,” she added. “That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be one and hopefully there will be one.” Her comments mark a rare statement on the Binance suit to media since the CFTC first announced it was suing the company on Mar. 27. In a blog post following the complaint’s filing, Zhao disagreed with the CFTC’s findings and said the exchange was “committed to transparency and cooperation with regulators and law enforcement” in the U.S. and globally.