The recent developments that shook the crypto exchange Binance have sparked significant debates about the US government’s pressure on crypto companies. According to Omid Malekan, a writer and assistant professor at Columbia Business School, the approach of the US Department of Justice in this process is different from the investigations conducted on traditional financial markets.
Controversial Statements by Omid Malekan
Malekan shared his comments on the matter with the public through social media platform X. In his statement, the renowned figure made the following remarks:
“People who sincerely believe that crypto provides a unique opportunity for bad things done by bad people do not understand how the rest of the financial system actually works. Companies that follow the best practices in Anti-Money Laundering still continue to process large amounts of illegal funds. But because someone does the paperwork, all of this is considered normal.”
Malekan also claimed that if similar investigations were conducted on traditional institutions in similar situations, many individuals in the Wall Street market could be imprisoned. Malekan made the following comments on this issue:
“If Binance were subjected to the same investigation methods as traditional institutions, hundreds of CEOs would be imprisoned, and there would be less money left for share buybacks. But bankers were smart enough to never question the game.”
Malekan’s Praise for Binance
Despite the criticisms on the matter, Malekan believes that accusing Binance of lying to its customers is incorrect. Binance and its co-founder, Changpeng Zhao, recently reached a $4.3 billion agreement with the US government over allegations of enabling individuals engaged in illegal activities to transfer “stolen funds” through the exchange.
As part of the agreement, CZ also resigned from his CEO position and confirmed that he would not hold any role in the company. Malekan also emphasized Binance’s contribution to financial inclusion in recent years and shared the following words:
“Binance has done a remarkable job in including millions of poor and financially underserved individuals in the financial system, which is something that the world’s compliant financial firms have chronically failed to do.”
