Binance (Law Enforcement Cooperation Rollback)
Incidents are rated for severity, not trust. The trust score is on Binance.
Summary
Beginning in April 2025, Binance quietly instituted a policy requiring law enforcement agencies to route freeze and seizure requests through formal Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) channels rather than accepting direct informal requests, adding weeks to response timelines. A DOJ internal memo circulated in June 2026 warned U.S. prosecutors to expect no courtesy freezes from Binance effective June 8, 2026, while police from five European countries raised cooperation failures at a law enforcement conference in the Netherlands. Binance publicly denied any policy change, directly contradicting the DOJ memo and contemporaneous reporting by The New York Times and The Information.
Connected Entities
3 entities · 60 linked investigations- Binance (Law Enforcement Cooperation Rollback)→mentioned with→Binance(70%)
- Binance (Law Enforcement Cooperation Rollback)→mentioned with→Changpeng Zhao(80%)
- Binance→mentioned with→Changpeng Zhao(80%)
- Changpeng Zhao→mentioned with→Binance(80%)
Connected Through
2 shared actors · 451 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- □Binanceorganization
- □Changpeng Zhaoorganization
Timeline(17 events)
21 November 2023
Binance pleads guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations and sanctions offenses; agrees to pay over $4.3 billion. Founder Changpeng Zhao resigns and pleads guilty personally. FinCEN imposes five-year monitorship.
DOJ Press ReleaseMarch 2024
Alleged start of $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency transfers from two Binance accounts to Iran-linked entities, per internal investigator reports.
Fortune8 April 2025
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche disbands the DOJ's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) effective immediately.
CoinDeskApril 2025
Binance quietly institutes new policy requiring most foreign law enforcement freeze and seizure requests to be routed through UAE government channels and formal MLAT processes rather than accepted directly.
CoinDesk / NYT via PYMNTS5 January 2026
Binance.com begins operating under Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) licensing.
CryptoTimes2026
Erin Fracolli, Binance global head of special investigations, departs.
AML Intelligence / Bloomberg13 February 2026
Fortune reports Binance fired or suspended at least four internal investigators who had flagged $1.7 billion in alleged Iran-linked flows.
FortuneFebruary 2026
Jarek Jakubcek, Binance head of intelligence and investigations in Asia Pacific, departs.
AML Intelligence / Bloomberg25 February 2026
Senator Richard Blumenthal opens Senate inquiry into Binance over alleged $1.7 billion in Iran-linked cryptocurrency flows.
CoinDeskMarch 2026
Peter Van Logtenstein (global investigations unit lead) and Inga Petrauskaitė (financial crime investigations team lead) depart Binance.
AML Intelligence / Bloomberg6 April 2026
Bloomberg reports wave of senior Binance compliance staff departures from financial crime, sanctions, and monitoring roles. CCO Noah Perlman reported to be considering exit.
Bloomberg / Fintech Singapore8 June 2026
Effective date cited in DOJ internal memo for Binance ending courtesy freezes and requiring MLAT or formal legal process for asset holds and seizures.
CryptoTimes / BeInCryptoJune 2026
Law enforcement conference held in the Netherlands; police from five European countries raise concerns about Binance cooperation failures under the new MLAT-only policy.
NYT via CoinDesk / PYMNTSJune 2026
Treasury-appointed compliance monitor Sharon Cohen Levin hosts town hall with Binance co-CEO Richard Teng and new regulatory adherence head Andrew Stemmer.
Cryptopolitan9 July 2026
Initial reporting on the DOJ internal memo circulates widely in crypto media; Binance issues categorical denial of any policy change.
CryptoTimes / BeInCrypto28 July 2026
The New York Times publishes comprehensive report confirming Binance changed law enforcement cooperation procedures, frustrating investigators globally. CoinDesk covers the NYT report.
CoinDesk (citing NYT)Decision Log
- slot 457422772 · hash 86RrwV2Cv9v7wKbaqJ26yXmaHQecpFTu4rXWBwWwkmqY
- slot 443505615 · hash AKTqjJDACaP3YDMj3tCDsyhfpfEys8SDnQHF8TAbxvss
- slot 443505516 · hash FjJ1QSraszizbTTLh2HWP6jVXy6kfgzGAdpkU9bfkRpE
- slot 443502907 · hash GCLDmtwquSjayraRV9QioQRfNhgWfeLs88kwrUnLZV6F
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 25 of 26 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 7/29/2026, 11:29:39 PM
last updated: 7/29/2026, 11:29:39 PM
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