Binance suspended an employee following an internal investigation into allegations of insider trading involving the exchange's official social media accounts.
The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange confirmed the suspension after its audit department received a whistleblower report on Saturday.
The incident marks the second time in 2025 that Binance has faced insider trading allegations from within its ranks.
What Happened
Binance's internal audit department received a report on Saturday alleging an employee used insider information to promote a newly launched token through the @BinanceFutures account.
The investigation revealed suspicious timing between an on-chain token launch and a social media post.
A token called "Year of Yellow Fruit" was deployed on BNB Chain at 05:29 UTC on Saturday.
One minute later, the BinanceFutures account posted promotional material featuring identical imagery and text.
The post was quickly deleted, but not before the token's market capitalization surged to $3.6 million before crashing 83%, according to DL News.
"These actions constitute abuse of their position for personal gain and violate our policies and code of professional conduct," Binance said in a statement.
The BinanceFutures account has over 523,000 followers, making any post potentially market-moving.
Binance confirmed it has contacted law enforcement authorities in the employee's jurisdiction and will pursue legal action.
The exchange distributed a $100,000 bounty reward equally among five verified whistleblowers who reported the incident through official channels.
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Why It Matters
The incident underscores ongoing compliance challenges at major cryptocurrency exchanges despite increased regulatory scrutiny.
This marks Binance's second employee insider trading case in 2025.
In March, the exchange suspended a wallet team member for allegedly using insider information from a previous role at BNB Chain to front-run token announcements.
The latest case comes as Binance operates under heightened oversight following its 2023 guilty plea to Bank Secrecy Act violations.
The exchange paid a $4.3 billion penalty and agreed to independent monitoring of its operations.
Binance emphasized its "zero tolerance" policy toward internal misconduct and pledged to strengthen oversight mechanisms.
The exchange encouraged community members to report suspicious activity through its official audit channel at [email protected].
The incident also highlights how memecoin creators routinely exploit Binance-related phrases and imagery to pump token values.
In October, a token called "Binance Life" reached a $524 million valuation after co-founders used the phrase on social media.
Binance said it will continue working with authorities to ensure accountability and maintain platform integrity.
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