Crypto Exchanges

Story: US Attorney’s Office Investigates Binance for Possible Iran Sanctions Violations

By Sakamoto Nashi

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Two Offices, One Target. Having both the Manhattan US Attorney's Office and the DOJ's Criminal Division in the same…

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What Binance Said — and Didn't Say. Zero-tolerance is a strong phrase. Binance has used it before in regulatory disputes, and it's…

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Timeline and What Comes Next. The March reports gave the first hint that something was happening.

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The Manhattan US Attorney's Office is probing Binance. The question on the table: did the world's largest crypto exchange knowingly let Iranian entities trade in ways that broke…

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The probe isn't new, exactly. Back in March, reports surfaced that the Justice Department was already looking at whether Iran had used Binance to sidestep American sanctions.

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Having both the Manhattan US Attorney's Office and the DOJ's Criminal Division in the same investigation is notable. These aren't low-level inquiries.

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The probe's core question is pretty specific: did Binance knowingly facilitate trades that violated US sanctions on Iran? "Knowingly" is the word that matters.

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Binance, for its part, pushed back fast. A company spokesperson said Binance enforces a strict zero-tolerance policy on sanctions violations and confirmed full cooperation with…

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Zero-tolerance is a strong phrase. Binance has used it before in regulatory disputes, and it's basically the standard line global exchanges reach for when regulators come knocking.

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The exchange operates in a genuinely complicated environment. Running a global crypto platform means dealing with users across dozens of jurisdictions, many of which have wildly…

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More context: French Tax Breach Fuels Surge in Crypto Scams Targeting 678,000 Users

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And the stakes here go beyond Binance alone. The broader crypto industry has been watching regulators tighten their grip on exchanges for years.

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No charges have been filed. That matters. An investigation doesn't mean guilt, and plenty of federal probes end without any action.

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The March reports gave the first hint that something was happening. The current disclosures confirm the investigation has grown in scope, with two major federal entities now…

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Binance's cooperation with authorities will matter enormously as this moves forward. Exchanges that get ahead of investigations, hand over data voluntarily, and demonstrate…

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