Democrats in the U.S. Senate have continued their attack on Binance, asking the Treasury and Justice Department to investigate its sanctions compliance and protections against illicit finance following reports of possible terrorism financing.
Nine senators, including some who were instrumental in negotiating cryptocurrency industry legislation known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, sent a letter to the heads of federal agencies on Friday asking them to investigate the exchange following news reports of possible violations, claiming the company had fired some of its compliance staff involved in uncovering the transactions.
The latest move by Democrats comes after Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, announced earlier this week that he was investigating Binance and had written to the company requesting information. However, neither he nor other Senate Democrats hold a majority, meaning they currently have no control over the committee’s investigation.
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said some early media reports were “inaccurate” and “defamatory.” A spokesman for the company did not immediately respond to a request Friday for comment on the senators’ request, which was sent to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“These allegations raise serious concerns that Binance’s illicit financial controls remain a significant threat to national security,” the senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks, Mark Warner and five others, said in a letter on Friday. They also requested information about the company’s compliance with the requirements of the 2023 settlement.
“If huge sums of money could flow through Binance to terrorist groups or people evading sanctions, our illicit financial controls could be dangerously compromised,” they wrote in the letter. The letter comes at a delicate moment in the ongoing debate over legislation to regulate crypto markets in the United States.
Preventing illegal finance in cryptocurrencies is one of the issues still under discussion in the bill. Senator Warner is leading the charge among Democrats seeking to craft legislative language on the topic.
Another unresolved issue surrounds the cryptocurrency activities of U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, which the letter also addressed. The lawmakers wrote that they “acknowledged” Binance’s ties to World Liberty Financial, the Trump-backed cryptocurrency venture launching a $1 stablecoin. They also pointed to Trump’s pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty and served four months in prison over Binance’s past anti-money laundering and know-your-customer terms issues.
