Among other things, the platform did not request any information from its customers to verify their identity, the CFTC said. In addition, Binance has not implemented "basic compliance procedures" against terrorist financing and money laundering.

"Binance has known for years that it violates CFTC rules," said Rostin Behnam, chief executive. The lawsuit is a "warning to all in the digital assets world that the CFTC will not tolerate willful circumvention of US law." The action against Binance is part of an effort to "find and stop wrongdoing in the volatile and risky digital assets market."

Binance is the largest cryptocurrency trading platform in the world. The sector has experienced several shocks over the past few months. The cryptocurrency platform FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, went bankrupt in November. Bankman-Fried was subsequently arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States, where he is charged with fraud, among other things.