4 Billion Dollar Fine and Resignation of Binance CEO; 900 Million Dollars in Financial Transactions with Users in Iran

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has admitted to violating anti-money laundering laws in the U.S., unauthorized money transfers, and sanctions violations. Tessa Gorman, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, stated that Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, prioritized personal wealth and growth over compliance with financial regulations aimed at preventing money laundering. On Tuesday, Gorman announced that Binance had conducted 'illegal transactions' between users in the U.S. and users in sanctioned countries such as Iran, Cuba, Syria, and Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine, profiting 'significantly' from these activities. U.S. officials say Binance provided services to 'thousands of users' from sanctioned countries in 2019, including over 12,000 users with Iranian phone numbers. Binance also failed to report suspicious transactions linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The U.S., U.K., European Union, Japan, Israel, and several other countries have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. U.S. officials discovered that Binance's cryptocurrency wallets interacted with Bitcoin wallets associated with groups recognized by the U.S. as terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State, the armed wing of Hamas, al-Qaeda, and Islamic Jihad. Janet Yellen, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, stated that Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations for profit, funneling money to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers. The U.S. Treasury Department emphasized that Binance was aware that U.S. sanctions laws prohibit Americans from doing business with sanctioned customers, including those in Iran, yet it did not prevent American users from trading with users in Iran. From January 2018 to May 2022, Binance knowingly facilitated over $898 million in financial transactions between American users and users in Iran. Binance, which began operations in 2017, is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world and is estimated by the U.S. Treasury to handle 60% of centralized virtual currency transactions. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO and major shareholder of Binance, resigned from his position after admitting to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and agreed to pay $4.3 billion to the Justice Department to settle the case. The organization 'United Against a Nuclear Iran' reported that a Western company is providing services to the sanctioned oil company of the Islamic Republic. The identities of thousands of buyers of Dominican golden passports, including at least five Iranians accused of violating sanctions and economic corruption, have been revealed. The American company '3M' was ordered to pay $10 million for not complying with the Islamic Republic's sanctions.