U.S. officials are now reportedly investigating Binance for “possible insider trading and market manipulation.”

According to a Bloomberg report, the U.S. government has widened its investigation into the operator of crypto exchange Binance to include “whether Binance or its staff profited by taking advantage of its customers.” Citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg reported that U.S. officials, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, are investigating the crypto exchange operator for “possible insider trading and market manipulation.”

Binance under scrutiny over regulations. 

In recent months, Bloomberg has covered what officials say is a wide-ranging inquiry into Binance, encompassing efforts from the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice as well as the CFTC. The report further revealed that the CFTC has been contacting “potential witnesses” as part of the new inquiry area. The news comes as the crypto exchange works up to shore up its compliance and regulatory efforts. Last month, Binance moved to enforce mandatory KYC on its user base. The crypto exchange giant has been under regulatory scrutiny in different countries this year. 

Binance hired a former Europol dark web specialist to oversee investigations. 

The exchange operator framed the decision of strengthening KYC rules as part of a process to “determine changes and improvements in light of evolving global compliance standards.” On Friday, Binance hired former Europol dark web specialist Nils Andersen Röed to serve as its senior director of audit and investigations. “His focus will be on conducting and leading internal and external investigations with the purpose of identifying bad actors that attempt to commit crimes on Binance’s platforms and to protect users’ funds, as well as proactively supporting law enforcement agencies with their investigations,” Binance said in a press statement.