As U.S. regulators continue to snoop on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange is willing to pay fines to make amends for past wrongdoings, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Binance Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann told The Journal on Wednesday that the exchange was growing rapidly and was initially unaware of the myriad of laws and regulations designed to prevent money laundering, sanctions evasion and corruption.
That’s why Hillman said Binance expects fines — and is “working with regulators to figure out what are the remedial actions we need to go through now to make amends.” [past violations].”
While regulatory scrutiny on Binance has intensified following the collapse of its rival FTX last November, Binance has been under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington since 2018, according to Reuters. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly subpoenaed at least two trading firms in recent months requesting records of their past transactions with Binance US.
Reuters reported in December that federal authorities were still discussing a possible settlement with Binance and assessing whether the evidence they have already collected is sufficient to bring charges against the exchange and several individuals, including CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao.
In his interview with The Journal, Hillman said he expected the outcome of the study (he didn’t name which specific study he was referring to) [be] a fine, could be more… We just don’t know. That is for regulators to decide.”
Hillman declined to estimate the size of the fines or a timeline for when the investigation could be completed, the Journal reported.
However, he added that he was “very confident and felt really good about where those discussions are going.”
“It will be a good time for our company because it allows us to put it behind us,” the Journal quoted Hillman as saying.
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