Favour
The news organizations’ sources also said that Binance is discussing the possibility of settling with the DOJ regarding previous allegations that the exchange was also used to move money to circumvent US sanctions against Iran.
If you’ll recall, United States and the European Union imposed sanctions against Russian financial institutions following the invasion of Ukraine.
Binance told us at the time that it found the charges “unexpected and disappointing.”
This time, it told Bloomberg in a statement “In 2021, Binance launched an initiative to completely overhaul its corporate governance structure, including bringing in a worldclass bench of seasoned executives to fundamentally change how Binance operates globally.” The spokesperson continued that the company now observes strict knowyourcustomer protocols similar to the ones employed by traditional banks. “Our policy,” they said, “imposes a zerotolerance approach to double registrations, anonymous identities, and obscure sources of money,” While they didn’t specifically address the allegations, the statement sounds like a denial that the company’s service allowed Russian users to flout US sanctions.
Back then, a spokesperson said that unilaterally banning people’s access to cryptocurrency “would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists,” because it would affect ordinary users and not just Russian oligarchs.
If the DOJ truly is looking into Binance’s activities related to Russian sanctions, then it’s merely one of the investigations the exchange is grappling with.