REGULATION

U.S. lawmakers urge Department of Justice to conduct thorough investigation into Binance and Tether

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U.S. lawmakers urge Department of Justice to conduct thorough investigation into Binance and Tether

Following the recent Hamas attack in Israel, US lawmakers have questioned whether Binance and Tether are involved in funding terrorist activities and have requested the Department of Justice to investigate.

Republican Party Calls for Terrorist Financing Investigation in Cryptocurrency

Republican Senators Cynthia Lummis and French Hill have formally urged the US Department of Justice to further investigate whether Binance and Tether support terrorist activities, calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to take this matter seriously.

Over the past year, both Tether and Binance have been under scrutiny by regulatory authorities. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed charges against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao CZ, alleging violations of federal law. Meanwhile, according to a report by the Financial Times, Tether froze multiple addresses due to transactions with Hamas and other controversial entities.

In their letter, Lummis and Hill explicitly stated, "Tether knows its product is used to support terrorist activities but has not conducted sufficient customer due diligence, which may contribute to violations of sanctions laws and the Bank Secrecy Act." Nevertheless, the two legislators also expressed support for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, believing in their potential to drive innovation. "Cryptocurrency is not the enemy, but bad actors are," Lummis said.

Crypto Community: Why Not Target Big Banks?

With reports of Barclays Bank also allegedly funding Hamas, some in the crypto community questioned whether these lawmakers would also demand charges against Barclays from the Department of Justice.

Tether: We are Proactive in Combating Illegal Activities

The CEO of Tether stated, "We are proud of the work we do to prevent illegal activities." Tether has been actively cooperating with dozens of law enforcement agencies, including those in the US, Ukraine, and Israel, since its inception. The proportion of malicious actors using cryptocurrency is just a drop in the vast ocean of illegal activities in traditional finance.