Sept 21 (Reuters) – US federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance violated sanctions on Iran by failing to prevent certain trading activity on its platform, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Here are a few details:
• The probe is being led by the Manhattan US attorney’s office, with the Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington also involved, Bloomberg News reported, adding that authorities are examining whether Binance knowingly allowed the trading.
• Binance said in a statement that it has a zero-tolerance approach to sanctions violations. “We fully cooperate with law enforcement, and we remain committed to rooting out and shutting down bad actors.”
• The DOJ declined to comment, while the Manhattan US attorney’s office could not immediately be reached for a comment outside regular business hours.
• Binance has faced US scrutiny in the past. In 2023, Binance’s then-chief Changpeng Zhao stepped down and pleaded guilty to breaking US anti-money laundering laws as part of a $4.3 billion settlement resolving a years-long probe into the world’s largest crypto exchange.
• The US government earlier this month imposed sanctions on firms and individuals it says are helping Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies in the Middle East, intensifying its campaign to isolate Iran economically.
(Reporting by Fabiola Arámburo in Mexico City; additional reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
