Tysen Duva, head of DOJ’s criminal division, said in an interview this week that officials were reviewing Binance’s compliance with its 2023 agreement. Duva declined to discuss specifics and didn’t say that Binance was in violation of the settlement, under which the company agreed to a US$4.3 billion penalty, pleaded guilty to violating banking rules and accepted increased compliance controls. 

Last month, the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which is leading the probe and working with the criminal division in Washington, sought forfeiture of US$61 million that it said was generated from Iranian black-market oil sales and laundered through Binance. Federal prosecutors have been investigating whether the operator of the world’s biggest crypto exchange committed violations of US sanctions on Iran by not stopping certain trading on its platform, Bloomberg has reported.

“There is an ongoing investigation there that we are involved with,” Duva said in the interview. “But beyond that, we’re not going to get into specifics about exactly what the status of the facts are, how it’s developing.” 

The Justice Department said it doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations in response to follow-up questions.

Neither the company nor its employees have been accused of wrongdoing and probes can end without charges or lawsuits being filed.

“We are continually working to enhance our controls, and we are fully committed to cooperating with law enforcement,” Binance said in a statement.

Duva also praised Binance and other digital asset companies for helping the US thwart cyber scams and frauds, especially those committed by transnational criminal organisations. He has been encouraging companies to come forward and self report, favoring settlements over what could become costly prosecutions. 

“I want to focus really on the positive part of the relationship that we’re trying to build with the crypto companies and the tech companies,” Duva said. “The early returns have been great with social media, with crypto exchanges, and we’re very excited to really press that and continue this. A big part of this is these public-private partnerships.” 

More broadly, DOJ is urging companies to self report possible fraud, favoring settlements with companies that proactively disclose potential violations over what could become costly and time-consuming prosecutions, Duva said.

Binance is required under the 2023 settlement to report to the government any evidence or allegations of misconduct related to federal laws governing money laundering, banking transactions and sanctions violations.

If Binance is found to have breached the deal, the company could be subject to prosecution for the criminal activity that was resolved under the settlement, potentially facing revived charges and billions of dollars in additional fines. 

Since the 2023 settlement, Binance has sought to emphasize its cooperation with law enforcement and regulators. The company said in a blog post in February that overall, more than 1,500 people, or about 25% of its global headcount, worked on compliance. 

Binance’s former chief executive officer Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and ended up serving four months in prison. Zhao, also known by his initials, CZ, was pardoned by President Donald Trump in October and has been travelling the world promoting adoption of cryptocurrency in places ranging from Dubai to Pakistan. 

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