Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is under investigation by DOJ and IRS for money laundering and tax offenses; Crypto plunges after news

Cryptocurrency has been faced with a barrage of bad news in the last few days. We have the two announcements from This is probably another bad news crypto investors don’t want to hear. We saw how the two announcements from Elon Musk and Ethereum creator Vitalik sent shock waves across the crypto world as $365 billion wiped off the global cryptocurrency market.

Now, Bloomberg just reported that Binance the world’s biggest crypto exchange is under investigation by the Justice Department (DOJ) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Late last month, we wrote about tech startup Binance after the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange announced the launch of its own NFT marketplace.

In a tweet, Binance said: “We take our legal obligations very seriously and engage with regulators and law enforcement in a collaborative fashion. (1/3)”

We take our legal obligations very seriously and engage with regulators and law enforcement in a collaborative fashion. (1/3) https://t.co/68UB1InOBK

— Binance (@binance) May 13, 2021

The report said that “officials who probe money laundering and tax offenses have sought information from individuals with insight into Binance’s business.” In just a few hours after the news broke, Bitcoin has lost over $2,000 of its value. It was trading at over $50,000 this morning. Now it is down to $47,801.2 as of the time of writing.

Meanwhile, from Bloomberg:

“Binance Holdings Ltd. is under investigation by the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service, ensnaring the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange in U.S. efforts to root out illicit activity that’s thrived in the red-hot but mostly unregulated market.”

[…]

“As part of the inquiry, officials who probe money laundering and tax offenses have sought information from individuals with insight into Binance’s business, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the probe is confidential. Led by Changpeng Zhao, a charismatic tech executive who relishes promoting tokens on Twitter and in media interviews, Binance has leap-frogged rivals since he co-founded it in 2017.”

Bitcoin

Founded by Changpeng Zhao and Yi He, Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that combines digital technology and finance. The company provides access to exchange digital currency pairs on the market while maintaining security, liquidity, enabling a safe and efficient deal with anyone, anytime and anywhere.

Before founding Binance, CEO Changpeng Zhao previously founded Fusion Systems in 2005 in Shanghai; the company that built high-frequency trading systems for brokers. In 2013 he joined Blockchain.info as the third member of the cryptocurrency wallet’s team. He also worked at OKCoin as CTO for less than a year, a platform for spot trading between fiat and digital assets.