The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation against the crypto exchange Binance. US authorities suspect Binance of facilitating access to crypto for Russian citizens, violating US sanctions.
Binance under legal investigation
The judicial problems of theexchange crypto Binance continue to United States. According to Bloomberg the world’s largest crypto exchange is under investigation by United States Department of Justice. This source, citing five people close to the case, indicates that the American authorities suspect Binance for allowing certain Russian citizens to purchase cryptocurrencies in violation of U.S. sanctions.
Indeed, following the conflict between the Russia and theUkrainethe United States and some European countries had taken several sanctions against the Russia. One of them was to exclude the Russia from the world financial system. Western companies were therefore invited to refuse financial services to Russians.
Thus, Binance introduced restrictive measures for its Russian users in April 2022. Russian accounts holding more than 10,000 euros could not perform any transactions on Binance. However, the platform seems to have relaxed these restrictions over the months. According to RBC, Russian citizens with more than 10,000 euros can once again carry out transactions on Binance.
Binance of endless legal and regulatory troubles (?)
Binance is under investigation and prosecution in several countries. At United Statesthe platform of CZ is pursued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The American regulatory authority accuses Binance for allowing U.S. citizens to trade in derivatives without the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The world’s most popular exchange is having problems elsewhere, too. À Dubai, l’Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) recently strengthened the control of Binance. The VARA required, among other things, more transparency on the ownership structure, governance and audit procedures of Binance.
Is Binance the victim of a witch hunt, or is its governance failing? Both factors could be at play. In the US, there is no doubt that Binance is under pressure from authorities against crypto exchanges. Indeed, the CZ platform is not the only one being targeted. However, the questioning of Binance’s governance in pro-crypto jurisdictions such as Dubai shows that the platform probably has some areas to improve internally.
I dream of a world where every citizen has total control over themselves, including their finances. I believe that Bitcoin is one of the tools that will achieve this revolution. Since 2019, I am learning about this cryptocurrency and spreading the word around.
