Binance Dismisses the $2.35 Billion Money Laundering Claim

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by client count, has responded to allegations made by Reuters that it helped launder over $2.35 billion of illegal funds received from hacks, investment frauds, and illegal drug sales in the last five years.

In a rebuttal dubbed the “inconvenient truth“, the cryptocurrency exchange said that anti-crypto campaigners often have two diluted arguments against the new financial revolution. Most of them often claim that crypto is worthless and a money laundering vehicle.

The first argument has been proven satisfactorily to be “unequivocally false”. Binance also said television pundits have been wrongly asserting that Bitcoin and top liquid cryptocurrencies are agents of money laundering.

Binance Accused of Laundering Billions from Illegal Sources

Reuters claimed that Binance, on a recurring pattern, had consistently facilitated the laundering of billions originating from hacks and other illegal sources, including funds gained from drug sales.

According to Reuters, the U.S. government even hired Chainalysis, a blockchain analytic firm, to assist with the investigation. The analysis firm Reuters revealed found that Binance laundered $770 million received from criminals alone.

Another similar finding conducted by researchers at Crystal Blockchain, Reuters added, discovered that Binance was a conduit of over $780 million from Hydra, a Russian darknet marketplace.

Anti-Money Laundering and Transparency Protocols

Binance broke down claims made by Reuters, reassuring the community that attempts made by critics to paint crypto exchanges with a broad brush, accusing them of bending backward and not applying stringent anti-money laundering and transparency protocols simply don’t hold water.

Additionally, the exchange added that the nature of cryptocurrencies makes them an awful vehicle for laundering cash. Every large installment made won’t go unnoticed, the exchange explained. Besides, all transactions are easier to track. Because of this, money laundering through crypto in 2021 accounted for less than one percent.

We Helped Takedown Lazarus and Hydra

Binance, they exchange continued, has one of the most sophisticated anti-money laundering systems. Moreover, it hires top anti-money laundering investigators in the world.

Their pool of top-tier sleuths exceeds 120 and includes “former senior law enforcement investigators from the IRS, FBI, and Secret Service in the United States, Europol, Dutch and U.K police agencies in Europe and national level agencies in Asia and Latin America.”

They also cooperate with law enforcement, giving them valuable leads whenever necessary. Some of their investigators helped take down Hydra and the notorious North Korea hacking group, Lazarus.