Binance faces possible U.S. lawsuits and multi-billion-dollar fines as DOJ probe continues

The U.S. Department of Justice says its investigation into Binance is still ongoing, and that matters because any finding of a breach could reopen criminal charges settled in 2023. For high-risk PSPs, the useful part is not the headline drama; it is the reminder that a 2023 deal does not necessarily end the story if compliance obligations are later challenged.

1. Tysen Duva, who leads the DOJ’s criminal division, confirmed to Bloomberg that the case is still active, but declined to provide details. He also did not say whether investigators had established violations by Binance.
2. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the DOJ’s criminal division in Washington are handling the matter. In September, Manhattan prosecutors sought to forfeit $61 million in cryptocurrency, saying the funds came from the illegal sale of Iranian oil and were moved using Binance corporate accounts.
3. Binance has not been charged in that specific case, and neither has any employee. The company says it is cooperating with U.S. law enforcement and that more than 1,500 employees — about a quarter of its total staff — work on compliance.
4. If the DOJ proves a breach of the 2023 agreement, U.S. authorities could return to the criminal charges settled that year. That could expose Binance to fresh litigation and fines in the billions of dollars.
5. In November 2023, Binance pleaded guilty to serving U.S. customers without registration and to violating anti-money laundering requirements. Under the deal with U.S. authorities, the exchange agreed to pay $4.3 billion, tighten monitoring of suspicious transactions, and report possible legal violations.

Earlier, a group of 11 U.S. senators called on the authorities to examine Binance’s sanctions compliance after reports of cryptocurrency transfers allegedly linked to Iran. For banks, acquirers, and PSPs, the pattern is familiar: sanctions exposure and AML controls are not a one-time remediation project, they are a standing risk that can keep a file open for years.