Binance, the world's largest and most-used cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly under investigation by several US government agencies for possible criminal activity

According to Bloomberg, the exchange is under investigation by the US Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in connection with possible money laundering and tax-related crimes The report claims that officials from both agencies are seeking information about Binance's business transactions and are exploring the possibility of fraud by both the exchange's employees and customers

While specific details about the investigation are thin, the report claims that the US government is wary of the use of cryptocurrencies in connection with money laundering, ransomware attacks, and other criminal activities In addition, the IRS has begun cracking down on potential tax evasion crimes related to cryptocurrency transactions

"We take our legal obligations very seriously and engage with regulators and law enforcement in a cooperative manner," said Binance spokesperson Jessica Jung in a statement to Bloomberg We have worked hard to build a robust compliance program that incorporates anti-money laundering principles and the tools used by financial institutions to detect and address suspicious activity"

Founded in 2017, Binance has quickly become the most used exchange for cryptocurrency trading, supporting a wide range of coins and led by Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, an outspoken crypto advocate with a large social media presence Binance is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and has an office in Singapore, but claims no official headquarters

In a tweet on Thursday, Zhao denied any wrongdoing on the part of Binance, suggesting that the report misrepresents the exchange's interactions with the institution

"Bad "news" title," he tweeted

"The article itself isn't that bad It describes how @binance worked with law enforcement to fight bad players, but somehow makes it seem like a bad thing Anyway Anyway, back to work

According to CoinMarketCap, Binance has handled nearly $55 billion in transaction volume in the past 24 hours, which is about three times the volume of the next highest exchange (Upbit in Korea)

In 2020, Binance launched a spin-off exchange, BinanceUS, to comply with US regulations and began freezing the accounts of US traders on the main exchange; BinanceUS's daily trading volume was much lower, about $17 billion in the past 24 hours

Also in March, Bloomberg reported that Binance is currently under investigation by the US Commodity Trading and Futures Commission (CTFC) for allowing US traders to trade derivatives

Meanwhile, in October, a Forbes report claimed that leaked internal Binance documents detailed strategies for evading regulation In response, the exchange filed a lawsuit against the publisher, but ultimately dropped the suit in February According to crypto-analysis platform Chainalysis, Binance also led the list of exchanges that received illicit bitcoin (BTC) tied to criminals in 2019

In addition to its exchange, Binance also operates Binance Coin (BNB), which has surged in value more than 15 times since its launch in 2021, making it the third most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization Alongside BNB's recent success, the Binance Smart Chain is attracting increasing attention It is a blockchain platform that supports decentralized apps (dapps), including the popular decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap

The price of the Binance coin fell yesterday (May 13), along with much of the rest of the cryptocurrency market; according to CoinGecko, the BNB price rose 65% to about $600 per coin