The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division has opened an investigation into the parent company Binance Holdings Ltd. over possible sanctions violations related to Russia. Bloomberg, citing several anonymous sources, reports this.
NEW: The Justice Department is investigating whether Binance was used illegally to let Russians skirt US sanctions and move money through the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange https://t.co/namWt0yo5g— Bloomberg (@business) May 5, 2023
The investigation aims to determine whether Binance officials or entities allowed Russians to circumvent U.S. sanctions and move money through its trading platform.
The publication states that, at present, neither the exchange nor its executives have been charged with wrongdoing.
Binance has previously said that it fully complies with all U.S. and other international sanctions.
In a conversation with ForkLog, a Binance spokesperson declined to comment.
In March, banned Russians from P2P operations in dollars and euros. These restrictions remain in place.
In April, media information emerged about the removal of the €10 000 deposit limit for accounts of Russian users of the exchange, which had been introduced the previous year as part of the EU’s fifth sanctions package.
In the same month the platform reinstated support for transactions with cards issued by Russian banks.