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US officials divided over money laundering charges against Binance exchange

US prosecutors claim to have gathered enough evidence to show that crypto exchange Binance was involved in money laundering, but others disagree.

US officials divided over money laundering charges against Binance exchange

According to Reuters, US Department of Justice prosecutors are split over charging cryptocurrency exchange Binance with money laundering.

This is part of an investigation into Binance that has been going on since 2018, focusing on compliance with anti-money laundering and sanctions under US law. The crimes that Binance is accused of include not having a money transfer license, conspiracy to launder money, and violating sanctions on criminals.


Some prosecutors believe there is enough evidence to charge Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and senior management of the exchange. However, others still believe that more time is needed to assess the situation entirely. Therefore, the investigation has not yet reached a final verdict.

A Reuters source said the investigation involves prosecutors from many functional units of the US Department of Justice, including the Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (MLARS), the Office of Western Washington District Attorney, and the National Cryptocurrency Task Force.

The article states that the US Department of Treasury can file charges against Binance, negotiate a settlement or dismiss the case without taking any other action.

Reuters further revealed that lawyers for Binance have held meetings with the US Department of Justice to resolve the situation, with one of the arguments being that accusing Binance could deal another blow to the crypto market, which has already a year-long decline. The two sides mentioned the possibility that Binance would accept a fine to meditate.

Reuters also confirmed that Binance has recently hired many former officials who worked for US financial agencies and set up a legal department to deal with the investigation.

Responding to the latest criticism, Binance accused Reuters of misrepresenting its legal department but did not comment on the US Justice Department investigation. A spokesperson for Binance said it was “unaware of the internal operations of the US Department of Justice.”


In 2022, Reuters also conducted many independent investigations into Binance, claiming that the exchange has a weak anti-money laundering mechanism, which helped launder a large amount of dirty money, up to $2.35 billion and save money to Russian authorities.

Binance has repeatedly denied and made statements to refute the above information. BNB price is currently being heavily adjusted by the latest negative news, as well as criticism of the exchange’s Proof-of-Reserves audit and recent user account lockout controversies.

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