DOJ Considers Prosecuting Binance
- The US SEC sued Binance in June for selling unregistered securities.
- Sources at the DOJ claim the department is concerned about the impact a charge on Binance could have on the exchange’s customers.
- A new Wall Street Journal report claims China is Binance’s biggest market.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering prosecuting crypto trading platform Binance for fraud but is hesitant due to the possible impact on customers. Justice Department authorities are worried that an indictment against Binance will result in a run on the exchange, a similar event that led to FTX‘s decline late last year. Sources close to the matter claim that the DOJ is exploring other avenues, such as fines, to avoid another significant drama in the industry.
US law enforcement agents are reportedly probing Binance for possibly violating Western sanctions on Russia by providing its services to Russians. Last year, US and European regulators urged crypto service providers to stop offering crypto services to Russia to prevent the country from using cryptocurrencies as an escape route from financial sanctions.
In March, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused Binanced of breaking US trading and derivatives laws. In addition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance for providing its services to US customers and offering unregistered securities.
While the US remains a big part of Binance’s plans, it does not account for the exchange’s biggest market. According to documents analyzed by the Wall Street Journal, Binance lists China as the region with the most customers, followed by South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, and the British Virgin Islands.
China being Binance’s largest market comes as a surprise to many due to the country’s ban on crypto. However, it appears that Binance’s employees have a partnership with Chinese law enforcement to help identify possible criminal activities. The report claims that Binance has at least 900,000 active users throughout the nation.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
