- Republican lawmakers appealed to the US Department of Justice to understand whether Binance and Tether support terrorist financing.
- Both Tether and Binance were targeted by regulators last year. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly violating federal laws.
- Both Hill and Lummis have been friendly about crypto, saying in their letters that crypto and distributed ledger technology can “foster responsible innovation.”
Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the US Department of Justice to investigate Binance and Tether: Are Binance and Tether in trouble again?
US Lawmakers Call for Review
Republican lawmakers appealed to the US Department of Justice to understand whether Binance and Tether support terrorist financing. “Whether Binance and Tether provided material support and resources to support terrorism through violations of applicable sanctions laws and the Banking Secrecy Act,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) wrote in a letter on Thursday. He asked him to evaluate it carefully. The following was written in the letter:
“To that end, we support swift action from the Department of Justice against Binance and Tether to help disrupt resources targeting terrorism.”
Specifically, lawmakers asked Justice Minister Merrick Garland to “issue a charging decision that reflects Binance’s level of complicity and promptly conclude your investigation into Tether’s ongoing illegal activities.”
This is not the first time Binance and Tether experience such problems
Both Tether and Binance were targeted by regulators last year. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao for allegedly violating federal laws. In the CFTC’s complaint, the regulator cited the exchange’s lax approach to compliance.
Tether was fined by the CFTC in 2021 for supporting the stablecoin USDT. Tether froze 32 addresses controlled by entities linked to Hamas and Russia. Referring to the FT report, MPs pointed out that Tether did not conduct sufficient customer identification and screening even though it knew that its product facilitated terrorism and other illegal activities. Lummis and Hill stated that Tether knowingly facilitated violations of relevant sanctions laws and the Banking Privacy Act.
Both Hill and Lummis have been friendly about crypto, saying in their letters that crypto and distributed ledger technology can “foster responsible innovation.” “Many cryptoasset brokers seek to comply with U.S. sanctions and money laundering laws, correctly recognizing that regulations are necessary to unlock cryptoassets and distributed ledger technology,” the lawmakers said.
