With 250 million users around the globe, Binance—the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange—is moving to re-enter the U.S. market. This follows the fact that the company plead guilty to anti-money laundering (AML) violations earlier this year in 2023. Binance’s front is to show that they are cooperating with the U.S. Treasury Department to address all of its AML concerns. Now the Florida-based company is reportedly planning an even bigger merger with World Liberty Financial, a crypto startup backed by Donald Trump’s sons.
Binance retaliating against government-appointed monitor Binance previously undertook to secure a monitor to oversee its compliance with AML laws. This insight comes from sources deeply familiar with the ongoing discussions. The exchange has been through dire straits before. It was assigned a stunning $4.3 billion penalty for allowing bad players to move billions of dollars through its service. As part of the settlement, Binance booted all U.S. customers and settled with FinCEN for failing to report suspicious transactions.
Their possible partnership with World Liberty Financial includes having a new stablecoin listed on the Binance exchange. This bait and switch would allow the mysterious Trump-linked venture to gain access to an enormous new market. In doing so, it would produce a multibillion-dollar windfall.
Binance appears to be setting the stage for a comeback into the U.S. market. This is part of a larger pattern where regulators may be signaling a softening on enforcement against crypto. Take, for example, the recent call by Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for more non-enforcement actions.
This approach of using notice-and-comment rulemaking or explaining the Commission’s thought process through releases — rather than through enforcement actions — should have been considered for classifying crypto assets under the federal securities laws. - Mark T. Uyeda
The Treasury Department, which has to approve Binance’s settlement, is reportedly still weighing whether to grant Binance’s request to remove the independent compliance monitor. While a final decision has yet to be made, the conversations continue.
Binance's potential listing of the World Liberty Financial stablecoin raises concerns about the exchange's commitment to AML compliance, given its past violations and the politically charged nature of the Trump-backed venture. Scrutiny of this potential deal is anticipated.
