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DOJ, IRS Investigating Crypto Exchange Binance: Report

The world’s largest crypto exchange by volume is the subject of a U.S. money-laundering investigation, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Updated May 9, 2023, 3:19 a.m. Published May 13, 2021, 5:41 p.m.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

Binance Holdings Ltd. is facing a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

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Officials specializing in tax and money-laundering investigations are probing the world’s largest crypto exchange, according to the report.

Binance operates a sprawling global empire of crypto trading, including derivatives, which are essentially barred from the U.S. market. Binance has attempted to project itself as above-board through recent regulatory hires, including former U.S. senator Max Baucus. Former banking regulator Brian Brooks was installed as CEO of Binance’s U.S. affiliate last month. Binance is based in the Cayman Islands.

“We take our legal obligations very seriously and engage with regulators and law enforcement in a collaborative fashion,” a Binance spokeswoman said in a statement. “We have worked hard to build a robust compliance program that incorporates anti-money laundering principles and tools used by financial institutions to detect and address suspicious activity.”

She declined to comment further on the reported investigation.

Binance CEO "CZ" Changpeng Zhao commented on the Bloomberg article in a tweet:

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Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

Что нужно знать:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

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BlackRock expands crypto bet with 7 senior hires across U.S. and Asia

The BlackRock company logo is seen outside of its NYC headquarters. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The $10 trillion asset manager is staffing up to scale digital asset ETFs, pursue tokenization and identify "first-mover big bets" in Asia.

Что нужно знать:

  • BlackRock is hiring seven senior digital asset roles, including one in Singapore, to expand its crypto and blockchain strategy.
  • One U.S.-based role will help grow the iShares digital asset ETF lineup, including the $70 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), and develop new crypto-linked products.
  • The Singapore role will lead BlackRock’s digital asset push across Asia, with a focus on long-term strategy and identifying first-mover opportunities.