In brief
- Binance suspended an employee after they promoted a meme coin via one of the firm’s official X accounts.
- The token launched 1 minute before a post from the Binance Futures account that promoted the same phrase and image.
- The meme coin jumped as high as $6 million market cap, and has generated more than $16 million in trading volume.
A Binance employee has been suspended and may be subject to additional disciplinary action after the firm found out they were connected to a new meme coin launch—and subsequently promoted it via an official Binance X account.
The firm was alerted to the actions through reports to its internal audit department and immediately launched an investigation.
“We have verified the employee in question is related to a token that was issued on-chain,” the Binance Futures X account posted on Monday morning of its preliminary investigation.
“Less than a minute later, [they] used the text and images relating to the token in a tweet posted by the @BinanceFutures account,” it added. “These actions constitute abuse of their position for personal gain and violate our policies and code of professional conduct.”
The investigation scrutinized the launch of the “Year of the Yellow Fruit” meme coin that was created on the BNB Chain token launchpad, Four.Meme. According to the firm, immediately after the token launch, the Binance Futures account posted a now-deleted image closely resembling the token’s text and imagery.
Shortly after launch, the token jumped to nearly a $4 million market cap. After a retrace, it later jumped as high as a $6 million market cap, with more than $16 million in trading volume according to data from DEXScreener.
In addition to the suspension, Binance indicated it has contacted the relevant authorities in the employee’s jurisdiction, allowing them to act if necessary in accordance with legal procedures.
Five whistleblowers that submitted valid reports to Binance’s audit department will split $100,000 in rewards thanks to their work in reporting the behavior. While the firm has shared initial findings, its investigation is still ongoing.
The token, which is still trading around a $2 million market cap, has generated significant returns in a short period of time for a handful of traders. At least two wallets have profited more than $50,000 on the token since its launch, with eight other traders profiting at least $25,000 at the time of writing according to DEXScreener.
“Binance always adheres to the principle of putting users first, upholds the values of openness, fairness, and justice, and has zero tolerance for any violations,” the firm said. “For behaviors that undermine the platform’s integrity and attempt to profit from positions of authority, we will resolutely investigate, strictly hold accountable, and show no leniency.”
Meme coins on BNB Chain have seen sporadic surges this year. In February, Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao played into meme coin traders’ hands, teasing speculators before ultimately revealing the name of his dog—Broccoli—which spawned the launch of million-dollar meme coins.
In October, another BNB meme coin season briefly arose as the network’s native token, BNB, created a new all-time high of $1,369.
BNB is down 0.6% in the last 24 hours, recently changing hands at $896. It’s now about 35% off its October all-time high mark. Bitcoin has similarly fallen by nearly 30% since setting its own record price in October, with the wider crypto market taking hits in the months since.
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