Key Insights
- Binance charged with money laundering by US Department of Justice
- The investigation of the case filed in 2018 still carries on
- Binance’s charges to have a detrimental impact on the crypto economy
The Department of Justice of the US held Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms, guilty of money laundering. The case filed in 2018, is a long going one with the exchange platform accused of both money laundering and violating US sanctions.
Charges Against Binance
The Department of Justice accused Binance of money laundering and violating the crypto sanctions existing in the US. The exchange platform was not just accused as a whole, but the executives were also a part of it. Thus, CEO Changpeng Zhao seems to be equally a part of the allegations made by the US Court of Justice. However, the case filed in 2018 is yet to receive a verdict owing to the starkly different perspectives on the case. While most prosecutors think that the evidence is enough to prove Binance guilty, some of them also feel the body must put forth stronger evidence or probe deeper into the matter.
Money Laundering Activities In the Space
The crypto market is infamous for its nature of cybercrimes, including money laundering activities. Apart from crypto thefts and scams, various crypto exchange firms also engage in criminal activities like child trafficking and drug peddling through the money exchanged. Thus, most countries implemented various sanctions and measures to curb such activities and also monitor the kind of activities carried out by the firms. Evidently, it is no different for US and this is where Binance failed.
The inquiry set up against Binance comprised prosecutors from three departments of the US justice. These included the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington situated in Seattle. According to the US law, the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section must accept the charges against Binance to file the case and reach a conclusion.
Allegations Against Binance to Affect Crypto Market
The crypto market, already facing the wrath of recession, might get worse with the accusations against Binance. While the defense attorney of Binance, Gibson Dunn, held several meetings with the US judiciary, the company also declared such a criminal tag might cause “havoc” in the crypto market. Evidently, with the crypto ecosystem hitting the lowest this year, such charges will challenge the investors’ trust further
