According to a Bloomberg report citing five people familiar with the matter, the US Department of Justice’s National Security Division is conducting an investigation into whether Binance has allowed Russian customers access to the exchange in violation of US sanctions related to the Russian invasion of the granted to Ukraine.
The Justice Department investigation is another high-profile move against Binance following a joint investigation with the Internal Revenue Service in 2021 into the global exchange. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also been investigating Binance since at least early 2022 over its relationship with two firms owned by its founder Changpeng Zhao.
Binance and Justice Department spokespersons did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Justice Department declined a Bloomberg request for comment.
A statement from Binance to Bloomberg said the company is fully compliant with all U.S. and international financial sanctions.
In late March 2023, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance, alleging that the company knowingly offered unregistered crypto derivative products in the US in violation of federal laws.
The exchange has repeatedly denied allegations by saying it has built the world’s largest compliance team in this space — a 700-strong team that “handles 1,300 law enforcement requests a week,” according to compliance chief Tigran Gambaryan.
Over the past few days, Binance has claimed to have figured out how to keep North Koreans off its crypto exchange by “kicking their ass so far that they can actually see Binance isn’t the place for them.”
In addition, Israel reportedly announced in early May 2023 that it had seized about 190 Binance accounts with suspected ties to terrorist groups, including two accounts with ISIS. Since neither Israel nor Binance have specifically said that Binance cooperated, it is not clear how Israel seized accounts on Binance without Binance’s cooperation, as Binance is not required to comply with Israeli laws.