US Lawmakers Seek DOJ Investigations into Binance and Tether

• Tether responds that it had collaborated with 31 law enforcement agencies across 19 jurisdictions.
• U.S. lawmakers have urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open criminal investigations into Binance and Tether.
• The investigation is focused on potential connections between Binance and Tether with terrorist financing and sanctions violations.

U.S. lawmakers have urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open criminal investigations into top cryptocurrency firms Binance and Tether over potential connections to terrorist financing and sanctions violations.

In a letter sent Thursday to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and French Hill (R-AR) pressed the DOJ to “carefully evaluate the extent to which Binance and Tether are providing material support and resources to support terrorism through violations of applicable sanctions laws and the Bank Secrecy Act.”

The request follows recent reports linking digital assets acquired through Binance and Tether to terrorist organizations like Hamas. While emphasizing that “crypto is not the enemy—bad actors are,” Senator Lummis stated the allegations warranted DOJ action against the two major crypto companies.

Specifically, the senators urged the DOJ “to reach a charging decision on Binance that reflects their level of culpability and expeditiously conclude your investigations into the ongoing illicit activities involving Tether.”

In response, Tether strongly contested suggestions that a significant volume of illicit funds have flowed through cryptocurrencies, calling such interpretations “highly erroneous.”

The stablecoin issuer touted its adherence to compliance and cooperation with law enforcement, citing over $800 million in illicit funds seized through collaboration with authorities.

Specifically addressing concerns about the Middle East, in alignment with the NBCTF in Israel, we have frozen 32 addresses associated with illicit activities, securing a total of $873,118.34.

Tether said it has “proactively collaborated with 31 law enforcement agencies across 19 jurisdictions to curb malicious activities. Since inception, our active measures have resulted in freezing a cumulative total of $835 million in assets tied to illicit activities, primarily hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges and DeFi platforms.”

Nonetheless, lawmakers remain concerned about crypto’s vulnerability to terrorist financing and sanctions evasion.