Reuters came up with today a piece in which they state that the US Department of Justice is considering taking crypto exchange Binance to court. The exchange, according to Reuters, may be guilty of breaking rules in terms of sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) legislation. Binance denies everything and accuses Reuters of lying journalism.
Investigate Binance
As early as 2018, an investigation was launched by the Department of Justice in the United States Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world. This investigation now seems to be nearing an end, Reuters reports. The news platform also states that prosecutors at the Ministry of Justice are now discussing possible next steps.
The Reuters report states that part of the prosecutors would prefer to prosecute Binance, but another part indicates that there is not enough evidence that Binance has indeed violated laws and regulations. The report notes that Binance’s legal team has been meeting with Justice Department officials in recent months, arguing against criminal charges.
Binance allegedly indicated to the Justice Department that prosecuting Binance could have catastrophic consequences for the entire crypto industry: “A criminal prosecution would wreak havoc on a crypto market already in a protracted downturn.”
Reaction crypto exchange Binance
Binance has also indicated on Twitter that they completely disagree with the tenor of the Reuters article. According to Binance, it is totally unfair that they have joined the team cryptoexchange that deals with compliance with laws gets a lot of wind in Reuters reporting.
Reuters has it wrong again.
Now they’re attacking our incredible law enforcement team. A team that we’re incredibly proud of – they’ve made crypto more secure for all of us.
Here’s the full statement we sent the reporter and a blog about our remarkable law enforcement team.
— Binance (@binance) December 12, 2022
“Reuters is wrong again. Now they are attacking our incredible law enforcement team. A team we are incredibly proud of – they have made crypto safer for all of us.”
The fact remains that there is indeed an investigation into Binance in the United States, and that this investigation is nearing its end. However, whether Binance will actually be prosecuted is by no means certain. In any case, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has called everyone the FUD just ignore.
Ignore FUD. keep building!
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) December 12, 2022