Democrats in the US Senate continue to attack Binance and call on the Treasury and Justice departments to investigate sanctions compliance and protections against illicit financing following reports of possible terrorist financing.
Nine senators, including some who have been instrumental in negotiations over crypto industry legislation known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, sent a letter on Friday to federal agency heads, requesting that they investigate the exchange after news reports about possible violations, which also claimed that the company had fired some compliance staff involved in uncovering the transactions.
The Democrats’ latest move follows an announcement earlier this week by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who is a ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, that he was investigating Binance and had written a letter to the company requesting information. However, neither he nor the other Senate Democrats are in the majority, meaning they currently have no control over the committee’s investigations.
Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance, said some of the previous media reports were “inaccurate” and “defamatory.” A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday on the senators’ request, which had been sent to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“These allegations raise serious concerns that poor controls over illicit finance at Binance remain a significant threat to national security,” according to the Friday letter from senators including Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks, Mark Warner and five others, who also requested information about the company’s compliance with the requirements of its 2023 agreement.
“Our illicit finance controls are dangerously compromised if huge sums can flow through Binance to terrorist groups or sanctions evaders,” they wrote in the letter, which comes at a sensitive point in ongoing discussions over US legislation that would govern crypto markets.
Preventing illicit cryptocurrency financing is among the issues still being discussed in that bill. Senator Warner has taken the lead among Democrats seeking to debate legislative language on the issue.
Another unresolved issue centers on the crypto activities of US President Donald Trump and his family, which the letter also referenced. The lawmakers wrote that they “acknowledged” that Binance had ties to World Liberty Financial, the Trump-backed crypto company behind the $1 stablecoin. They also referenced Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao: he pleaded guilty and served four months in prison related to Binance’s past problems with anti-money laundering provisions and know-your-client.
