While Binance has been under investigation by the US courts since 2018 for non-compliance with money laundering laws, the Reuters news agency is adding fuel to the fire with a full case, very dependent against the Changpeng Zhao exchange.
Binance accused of money laundering
At the end of 2022, not a week goes by without bad news tainting the cryptocurrency news. Between the debacle of FTX and its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, the rumors weighing on centralized exchanges and the threat of regulation, feverishness is at its peak in the market.
It is in this complicated context that the Reuters news agency has decided to reveal new information regarding the criminal investigation against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao. The platform’s token, the BNB, was quick to unscrew:
BNB price fall in 1 day
As a reminder, the investigation began in 2018 and aims to rule on Binance’s compliance with US laws against money laundering. In concrete terms, the charges against the exchange are unlicensed money transfer, conspiracy to further money laundering and violations of criminal penalties.
According to information from Reuters, the prosecutors in charge of the investigation are divided. Some believe that they have enough evidence to trigger significant sanctions against Binance, while others prefer to take the time to examine even more evidence.
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Reuters investigates Binance
In this case, Reuters prides itself on having “brought together the most comprehensive account to date of how the investigation developed and how Binance sought to keep it at bay”. The news agency collected a dozen interviews of people involvedon both sides of the case.
Concretely, Reuters explains that the survey has accompanied Binance throughout its growth, almost since its creation. They noticed that the exchange proceeded recruiting officials of the United States Criminal Investigation Divisionan organization that was investigating against them.
The London agency’s investigation goes further since it directly accuses Binance of having continued to practice very lax anti-money laundering controls in 2022. The exchange reportedly processed more than $10 billion in payments “for criminals and corporations seeking to evade U.S. sanctions, and conspiring to evade regulators in the United States and elsewhere. »
Binance was obviously quick to react, affirming its support for its compliance department and denying all charges against him :
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
Still, the stakes are high for the cryptocurrency market. If the outcome of the investigation is against Binance and CZ, this could be devastating as Binance’s grip is strong and was bolstered by the recent collapse of rival FTX.
👉 To go further – Binance audit: the Bitcoin (BTC) held by the platform is overcollateralized
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Source: Reuters
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Journalist for Cryptoast, I strive to dissect every detail of the exciting world of cryptocurrencies and make it accessible and understandable to as many people as possible.
Lilian Aliaga
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