More than 67,500 euros are lost in the Binance labyrinth. That is what a Spanish businessman claims, who took the giant bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrency exchange to court, accusing it of “misappropriation.” The case puts the company under judicial scrutiny in Spain, thus joining similar investigations in Africa and South America.
According to a court document, there are “sufficient criminal grounds” to proceed with prosecution. For this reason, Judge María de los Ángeles Velázquez, head of the 27th Court of Instruction in Madrid, granted a period of ten days for Binance Spain SLU, the Spanish subsidiary of the company, as well as the legal representative of the businessman, to present their indictments or request the dismissal of the case.
The businessman in question, identified as JL, stated in his statement, filed in 2023 and advised by lawyer María Victoria Vega de Auren, that he was never able to operate with the cryptocurrencies he deposited on the platform because Binance did not provide him with the necessary access key. This despite multiple attempts at resolution through burofax, a legally binding notification service with acknowledgment of receipt, which were ignored according to the plaintiff, who insists that he was unable to recover his investment.
According to a report from Diario de España, during the investigation phase, the court summoned Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of Binance, to testify, but he did not appear to the summons. Zhao, better known as CZ, was running the company in 2021 when the reported events occurred. However, on November 21, 2023, Changpeng Zhao made public his resignation as CEO of Binance. In that same statement, he announced that Richard Teng, former global director of regional markets for the company, would be the new CEO of the exchange. Later, on April 30, 2024, CZ was sentenced to four months in prison for having allowed Binance to commit various crimes.
In any case, the accusation filed against Binance in Spain highlights the exchange's “negligence of duty”, that is, the abandonment or failure to fulfill its responsibilities, as presented in the trial documents. This is because the statement filed by JL details how, despite rigorously following all security protocols and providing all required documentation, the company did not solve the problem. He adds that this inaction had a significant impact on his personal and professional life, evidencing a clear lack of commitment on the part of the platform.
The case is not unique, Binance is also under scrutiny in Brazil, for “harming Brazilian consumers.” Similarly, the giant cryptocurrency platform is under investigation in France, Nigeria, and the Philippine
