- Binance has suspended an employee following an internal investigation into alleged misuse of insider information
- The staff member is accused of trading tokens based on knowledge gained from a previous role at BNB Chain
- Binance has pledged full cooperation with legal authorities and issued whistleblower rewards for valid reports
Binance has suspended a staff member after it found evidence of insider trading on token launches. Having received reports from whistleblowers, the company conducted an internal investigation into alleged front-running using non-public information and found that the employee, who had recently moved to the Binance Wallet team, was found to have acted on insights from a former role to trade ahead of a token launch. Binance informed the community of the news in a lengthy X post and has rewarded whistleblowers.
Misuse of Insider Knowledge
According to Binance’s post, the incident came to light on March 23 when the company’s Internal Audit team received a complaint from the community. Although the individual in question was part of the Wallet team at the time of the alleged trades—and therefore not directly involved with the token project—he previously held a business development position at BNB Chain. In the post, it outlined the employee’s transgression:
Leveraging information from his former position as well as his familiarity with on-chain projects, the employee was aware the project was planning a Token Generation Event (TGE) and anticipated it would generate significant community interest.
Prior to the project’s public token launch announcement, the staff member used multiple linked wallet addresses to purchase a large volume of the project’s tokens. Following the announcement, the staff member quickly sold part of his holdings to realize significant profits, while the remaining tokens retained considerable unrealized gains.
The post confirmed that the activity “constitutes front-running based on non-public information,” which is a “clear breach of company policy.”
Whistleblowers Rewarded
In response to the breach of company policy, Binance acted immediately to suspend the employee and confirmed it would work with legal authorities in the relevant jurisdiction. “We will proactively cooperate with the relevant authorities… and take appropriate legal action,” the company stated. Binance emphasized that this behavior represents a serious violation of its internal ethics policies and reiterated its “zero tolerance for any misconduct.”
To recognize those who helped uncover the wrongdoing, Binance distributed a $100,000 reward among four whistleblowers who submitted reports through the official audit channel. While the company appreciated efforts made on social media, it stressed that “the reward applies only to valid reports submitted through our official channel.”
Binance concluded the announcement by thanking its community and pledging to strengthen its internal controls: “Together, we can uphold a transparent, healthy blockchain ecosystem and build a safer, more trustworthy trading environment for all users.”
