SEC Chair Gensler's Alleged Offer to Advise Binance Raises Questions for Crypto Industry

Lawyers representing Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao have alleged that Gary Gensler, the current head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), offered to serve as an adviser to Binance in March 2019. However, a previous report from The Wall Street Journal in March indicated that Binance had actually approached Gensler first in 2018 for the adviser role. Gensler declined the offer. The SEC sued Binance on June 5 for failing to register as a securities exchange and for allegedly operating illegally in the U.S.