Two US Senators are reportedly asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate crypto exchange Binance for allegedly lying to Congress.
According to a new report by Reuters, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland recently penned a letter to the DOJ claiming that Binance, the largest crypto exchange platform by volume, gave misleading information to Congress.
The Senators allege that Binance lied to a panel of bi-partisan lawmakers earlier this year who were gathering information from industry leaders as they weighed possible new regulations.
As stated by the Senators in the letter,
“It appears that Binance and Binance.US undermined this important investigation and the legislative process by providing false and misleading information to Congress…
The Department should, in conjunction with the ongoing SEC complaint, conduct a rapid and thorough investigation of this matter.”
In March, the Senators, alongside Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kentucky, questioned Binance about its finances, risk management protocols, and regulatory compliance as it was at the time being investigated for potential crimes.
According to Warren and Van Hollen, this is when Binance provided misleading information to Congress.
Earlier this week, it was announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was suing Binance for allegedly violating securities laws. A day later, the SEC also filed lawsuit against Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange platform in the US, for similar reasons.
However, another Congressman, Republican Senator Bill Haggerty of Tennessee, recently said that the SEC should expect to hear from Congress for its enforcement actions against the crypto exchanges.
Don't Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inboxFeatured Image: Shutterstock/Jorge Salcedo