Binance suspends an employee accused of using official accounts to promote a memecoin for personal gain and reports the incident to authorities. This internal violation confirms a case of insider trading.
One Incident, One Rapid Listing, and One Serious Mistake
It’s one of those paradoxes that only the crypto ecosystem holds: Binance confirms an internal trading case involving an obscure memecoin, suspends the guilty employee, alerts authorities… and the token in question skyrockets shortly after.
According to a statement released on Monday, Binance’s internal audit service received a report on December 7 alleging that an employee had used the platform’s official X accounts to promote a newly created token for personal gain.
The internal investigation revealed that this employee posted texts and visuals related to the token ‘less than a minute’ after its on-chain creation, a behavior deemed a manifest violation of the group’s professional code.
Binance has suspended the employee in question and informed the authorities, suggesting that legal action remains possible.
The Memecoin ‘Year of the Yellow Fruit’ Gains More Speed
Binance has not officially named the token… but all signs point to ‘year of the yellow fruit,’ created on the BNB Chain. The token had pumped immediately before accelerating further after the publication of the post confirming the insider trading.
According to DEX Screener, the price hit a peak above $0.0061 right after the official revelations, while it initially hit a high at $0.0038. A typical reaction in a market where irony and speculation make an explosive combination.
The memecoin remains a micro-cap asset with around $1.9 million in fully diluted market capitalization, but it has already generated nearly $13 million in trading volume, almost evenly split between buys and sells.
An Incident Emphasizing Internal Exchange Regulation
The token takes its name from a Binance account post on December 4, quoting Raoul Pal during Binance Blockchain Week, mentioning a ‘year of the yellow fruit.’ Screenshots shared by observers show that the same graphic elements were allegedly used by the guilty employee to hype up the token before being caught on-chain.
Binance claims to have a ‘zero tolerance’ for such practices and promises to strengthen internal controls and governance policies. Five whistleblowers who reported the suspicious activity will receive a shared reward of $100,000.
BNB Chain Benefits from a New Narrative Episode
This incident comes as BNB Chain enjoys success: soaring volumes on PancakeSwap, memecoin ecosystem explosion, and Aster perps’ popularity. This new episode, despite the embarrassing aspect, continues to fuel the narrative of a network where memecoin culture drives liquidity.
For Binance, the priority is clear: restore a reputation of impeccable integrity, especially as the Abu Dhabi regulator just granted the exchange its most comprehensive framework to date.
