Binance.US's first CEO testimony exposed: Wallets, data all not independent from Binance, fully rely on Binance incubation

As the inaugural CEO of Binance.US, Catherine Coley has maintained a low profile and rarely appeared in the media. However, a testimony from 2022 revealed that she is not only a key witness in the SEC's lawsuit against Binance.US, but also demonstrated that the SEC's investigation into Binance has been ongoing for several years.

Who is Catherine Coley?

Catherine assumed the role of CEO at Binance.US in September 2019, but was replaced by former Coinbase General Counsel and Acting Comptroller of the Currency at the OCC, Brian Brooks, on May 1, 2021.

However, Brian Brooks resigned just four months into his tenure in August of the same year.

In SEC's lawsuit, both Brian Brooks and Catherine Coley were anonymously referred to as BAM CEO A and CEO B, with Catherine Coley being a key figure in proving that "Binance.US is not independent from Binance."

SEC Investigates Binance at the Beginning of 2022

According to Catherine's testimony provided to the SEC in January 2022, she expressed disappointment in the independence of Binance.US and mentioned several points:

Binance.US Relies on Binance Resources Rather Than Brand Authorization

Unlike the emphasis on mutual independence by Zhao Changpeng CZ in the past, Catherine pointed out many pain points during the initial establishment of Binance.US, particularly the abundance of Chinese in the Binance code repository, making it significantly more difficult for Western engineers to maintain and update the codebase.

Data and Finances Are Difficult to Separate

Catherine mentioned:

Data and finances are the two most difficult aspects to transplant to Binance.US, especially since the data is highly opaque, and I have never received answers from CZ on why and what we need to do to bring the data belonging to Binance.US to the U.S.

Wallet Custody Is Also Not Independent

The agreement between Binance and Binance.US includes four points:

• Trademark Agreement

• Primary Service Agreement

• Wallet Custody Agreement

• Software License Agreement

Among them, wallet custody is not independent, which is the most difficult for Coley to accept:

Wallet custody is an agreement that I hope Binance.US can at least participate in, so that we can effectively control token assets through custody; I also want to have custody-related data so that we can interact with the original data in real-time, rather than having to wait for someone's approval.

The progress of the SEC's lawsuit against Binance is still unclear. Although the civil litigation has not formally begun, Binance.US has decided to delist some trading pairs.

Progress of SEC Lawsuit: Binance.US decides to delist some trading pairs! Cathie Wood: Coinbase's competitor is disappearing