By Davit Kirakosyan

Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating whether Binance Holdings Ltd.’s initial coin offering in 2017 for its BNB token represented a sale, which would have required registration with the agency.

Scrutiny of origins, which is now the world’s fifth-biggest with a current value of around $300 and a market capitalization of about $48.5 billion, can be a troubling development for the company as it faces multiple investigations in Washington.

People who spoke anonymously to talk about the confidential investigation said that it could take months before any conclusions are reached. If the BNB was found to be a security by an examination, Binance could find itself in the same position as Labs Inc. which is currently in bitter litigation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the sale of a cryptocurrency token called in December 2020.