U.S. Justice Department mulls charging Binance over potential money laundering violations: report

Prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are reportedly split on filing charges against Binance and its executives on possible money laundering and sanctions violations, as part of a long-running criminal investigation of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

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Fast facts

• At least six federal prosecutors believe the evidence gathered so far justifies filing criminal charges against Binance and its individual executives including CEO Changpeng Zhao, four unnamed sources told Reuters.
• The investigation began in 2018 on Binance’s compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering laws and sanctions.
• While no official charges have been made, the exchange is being investigated for unlicensed money transfers, money laundering conspiracy, and criminal sanctions violations.
• The anonymous sources said that Binance’s defense attorneys at U.S.-based law firm Gibson Dunn had multiple meetings with DOJ officials in recent months, with Binance arguing that a criminal prosecution would further damage the crypto market, which is already in a downturn.
• “Reuters has it wrong again,” posted Binance’s verified Twitter account that added “we don’t have any insights into the inner working of [DOJ],” and that “our financial crimes team of approximately 300 investigations is working on the front lines to protect users from illicit actors…”
• Potential criminal charges could weaken Binance’s position as the world’s largest crypto exchange, which was further strengthened by the collapse of FTX.

See related article: Binance says it will set up crypto recovery fund, industry standards group