Binance Served as a Conduit for Laundering at Least $2.35 Billion in Illicit Funds in the Last Five Years

Binance provided a conduit for at least $2.35 billion in illegal money laundering over the last five years (between 2017 and 2021) from hacks, investment fraud and illegal drug sales, according to Reuters. Reuters said the data was calculated based on a review of court records, law enforcement statements and blockchain data, provided by Chainalysis and Crystal Blockchain. Two industry experts reviewed the calculation and agreed with the estimate. In response, Binance said that Reuters' calculations were inaccurate. In addition, Binance Chief Communications Officer Patrick Hillmann said that Binance was building "the most sophisticated cyber forensics team on the planet" and was seeking to "further improve our ability to detect illegal crypto activity on our platform."