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The US Justice Department is seeking more than $4 billion from crypto exchange Binance to resolve a criminal investigation into alleged money laundering, bank fraud, and sanctions violations, according to Bloomberg.
NEW: The US Justice Department is seeking more than $4 billion from Binance Holdings Ltd. as part of a proposed resolution of a years-long investigation into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. pic.twitter.com/ozWNgYPmUB
— Muyao (@MuyaoShen) November 20, 2023
Negotiations between federal prosecutors and Binance have included the possibility that Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao could face criminal charges in the US as part of an agreement to end the probe, the sources said.
Zhao, known as “CZ” in the crypto community, currently resides in the United Arab Emirates, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US. However, that does not preclude him from voluntarily coming to the US to face potential charges.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has been under investigation by the Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission for over three years. Prosecutors have been examining whether Binance violated anti-money laundering laws and standards meant to prevent cybercriminals from laundering ransomware proceeds and other illegal funds through the exchange.
As part of settlement talks with the Justice Department, Binance has proposed paying a fine of $2 billion or more and instituting a better compliance program to prevent further criminal activity, the sources said. But prosecutors have demanded over $4 billion to resolve the criminal probe.
The potential settlement could come as soon as the end of November, one of the sources said. Binance did not respond to requests for comment on the investigation or potential resolution. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
Any deal would likely require Binance to pay additional money to resolve parallel investigations by the IRS, CFTC, and other agencies. It would also require Binance to improve its know-your-customer procedures to prevent illegal funds from passing through the exchange.
