A spokesperson for Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume in the world, said that the company has a highly skilled financial crimes team comprised of former members of international law enforcement agencies that work to protect legitimate Binance users from criminals seeking to utilize crypto to commit scams, fraud and money laundering.
Despite the fact that Binance's Security and Compliance team has responded to almost 50,000 law enforcement requests with an average response time of 3 days, participated in more than 70 anti-cybercrime seminars with law enforcement agencies and become the first crypto company to join the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) in the last year, the Department of Justice is continuing to investigate Binance for allegedly not complying with U.S. anti-money laundering laws, although few details are known about the case.
"We don't have any insight into the inner workings of the US Justice Department, nor would it be appropriate for us to comment if we did. We are proud to have in our ranks some of the most celebrated cyber investigators representing virtually every single major international law enforcement agency across the globe. Just as they did during their time in the public sector, our financial crimes team of approximately 300 investigators is working on the front lines to protect users from illicit actors seeking to access the crypto markets," a Binance spokesperson said in a statement. "Their hard work has directly resulted in a crypto ecosystem that has far less criminal activity on average than the traditional cash system. The team works hand in glove with law enforcement to support casework on high-impact ransomware and hack cases, scam and investment frauds, counter-terrorism finance, nation-state-sponsored attacks and major money laundering groups. Additionally, the team has led cryptocurrency investigation training seminars for authorities in Brazil, Thailand, Italy, Philippines, Argentina and held sessions with Interpol, Europol and the UNODC."
Reuters reported on Dec. 12 that Department of Justice (DOJ) officials are continuing to deliberate about whether to file any charges related to an ongoing investigation of crypto exchange platform Binance and its CEO and founder Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao.
Binance said in a tweet the same day that Reuters was "wrong again" and "attacking our incredible law enforcement team. A team that we're incredibly proud of - they've made crypto more secure for all of us." Binance shared the "full statement" sent to the Reuters reporter.
Reuters included only the first sentence of the statement shared by Binance in its article. The article said U.S. law enforcement began investigating Binance in 2018 after criminals allegedly used the platform to move funds, although Reuters said that few details have "been revealed about the case." Reuters claimed that it conducted an investigation into Binance which found that it has "plotted to evade regulators in the United States and elsewhere" and has "weak anti-money laundering controls." Reuters said the DOJ has not decided whether to bring indictments against Binance leadership or to close the case without filing any charges.
Tigran Gambaryan, who serves as Binance's Global Head of Intelligence and Investigations, recapped the work Binance has done throughout the last year to be at the forefront of global anti-cybercrime efforts in a company blog post. Gambaryan, who formerly worked as a Special Agent at the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Cyber Crimes Unit for more than ten years, said the Binance Security and Compliance team has grown in size by more than 500% in the last year, "much to the dismay of the criminals out there." Gambaryan noted that the team includes many people who have previously worked with various major law enforcement groups, including Nils Andersen-Röed, a former Europol with expertise on the dark web and Matthew Price, who also previously worked for the IRS-CI.
Gambaryan wrote in the blog post that in the last year, Binance responded to almost 50,000 requests from law enforcement agencies "with an average response time of three days, which is faster than any traditional financial institution — some of which can take months, by which point the money has gone." He said that by working with law enforcement agencies, Binance has helped to recover millions of dollars for people who have been victims of cybercrimes. Binance launched a Global Law Enforcement Training Program which serves to "help law enforcement and prosecutors across the world detect financial and cybercrimes and to assist in the prosecution of bad actors." Gambaryan called the program "the first of its kind and a credit to the crypto industry when it comes to recognizing the importance of global security and compliance." Gambaryan also noted that in 2022, Binance became the first crypto company to join the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA).
According to Gambaryan's blog post, the measures he outlines are "just a tiny, albeit crucial, portion of the work our Security and Compliance team has accomplished over the last year. The brunt of what we do goes on behind the scenes, hidden from the spotlight, and rarely recognized by the media or wider public."
"Let this be known to the naysayers and aspiring criminals: crypto is not the criminal tool the media often makes it out to be. Nor is it a lawless domain governed by crypto exchanges that refuse to work with law enforcement," Gambaryan added. "Crypto is NOT a safe haven for illicit activities. I know this is the truth for Binance, at least."
