Bloomberg Report
Investigation into Money Laundering and Tax Evasion
[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Reports have emerged that Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for money laundering and tax evasion. Following this news, cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin have seen increased declines.
On the 13th (local time), Bloomberg cited sources reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice and IRS are conducting investigations into Binance.
The Binance spokesperson did not comment on the background of the investigation but stated, "We take our legal obligations very seriously and are cooperating with regulatory and law enforcement agencies." Binance also emphasized its strong efforts to prevent money laundering.
Immediately after the report, Zhao Changpeng, founder and CEO of Binance, tweeted, "There is a lot of pain (FUD) today. For some, it may be pain, but for others, it could be an opportunity."
U.S. media reported that this investigation followed last month’s warning from the German Financial Supervisory Authority, which cautioned that Binance provided insufficient explanations regarding stock tokens that track cryptocurrency-related stocks such as Tesla, Coinbase, and MicroStrategy.
Bloomberg also reported that in March, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) inquired whether Binance allowed U.S. residents to trade on its platform.
Meanwhile, following this news, Bitcoin prices have reversed their recovery trend and are trading around $48,000, down 12% compared to 24 hours earlier.
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