According to a recent report by Reuters, "at least" half a dozen U.S. federal prosecutors are convinced that they have gathered enough evidence to bring criminal charges against Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
However, there are also those who remain on the fence, arguing that there has to be more evidence for such an aggressive move. The conclusion of a major probe into the largest exchange has been delayed for now since there is no consensus among prosecutors.
The report, which cites anonymous sources, says that Binance and its top executives could be potentially charged with flouting anti-money-laundering rules and allowing bad actors to evade sanctions.
Tomiwabold OlajideU.S. prosecutors started investigating Binance back in 2018 due to concerns over criminals using the exchange for laundering ill-gotten funds.
According to a Reuters investigation that was conducted earlier this year, Binance has allegedly processed billions of dollars worth of dirty crypto from criminal and sanctions evaders.
The Binance team predictably denied the allegations outlined in the article, claiming that its security and compliance team has increased its headcount by 500%. In addition, the exchange says that it has no insights into the U.S. Justice Department's inner workings despite reportedly hiring former Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) head Kendall Day to hold discussions with prosecutors.
According to Reuters, the Justice Department has discussed possible plea deals with Day.
The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has dropped below $17,000 on the Binance news.
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin