Russia sanctions investigation involving Binance

US officials are reportedly looking into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange operator, Binance. The national security division of the US Department of Justice is looking at whether Binance or any of its officials may have violated the US and EU sanctions on Russia. Binance told Bloomberg in a statement that it complies fully with all US and international sanctions and its corporate governance structure was “completely overhauled” in 2021. In March, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance in federal court, claiming that the company breached rules against money-laundering, trading derivatives, and processed transactions by criminals and terrorists. CEO Changpeng Zhao, who co-founded Binance in 2017, challenged the lawsuit and said it “appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts.” After last year’s collapse of FTX, Binance became the world’s biggest crypto exchange.