U.S. Department of Justice warns prosecutors: Global cryptocurrency enforcement is affected by weake

Binance cooperation attitude may change, and crypto investigations face new challenges.

In May this year, Binance accounted for about 39% of the total spot transactions of cryptocurrencies. However, in the near future, it may become increasingly difficult for investigators to rely on the cooperation of the world\'s largest exchange.

According to an internal U.S. Department of Justice memorandum reviewed by The Information, prosecutors handling cryptocurrency-related cases were notified in June that Binance\'s cooperation may be lower than expected. It is reported that Binance plans to add additional conditions before responding to requests to freeze and seize customer assets.

This has raised concerns across the digital asset industry. As the world\'s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance has previously been a key ally in tracking, freezing and recovering illegal digital assets obtained through hacking, ransomware, sanctions violations and fraud. Any decline in willingness to cooperate voluntarily will inevitably hinder relevant investigations and asset recovery efforts.

The memorandum was reportedly written by Rachel Jones, digital currency legal adviser to the Department of Justice, and was subsequently distributed to staff who directly handle cryptocurrency cases. Copies of the memorandum were also provided to some senior employees, including Kevin Mosley, who was involved in the 2023 Binance investigation.

Binance disputed the interpretation of this incident. Its spokesperson said:

\"Binance\'s cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies has not and will not change.\"

In a separate interview with BeInCrypto, the company\'s head of corporate communications said that Justice Department officials seemed to have misunderstood Binance\'s responsibilities under the Abu Dhabi licensing structure, and Binance had contacted the Justice Department and Abu Dhabi officials to clarify the matter.

The variables brought by Abu Dhabi

According to Binance, the root cause of the misunderstanding lies in the licenses it obtained from the Abu Dhabi Global Market. The regulatory requirements for this market will take effect on January 5, 2026.

According to official guidelines from the Abu Dhabi Global Market Data Protection Office, exemptions allowing disclosure of necessary information \"do not apply to requests from law enforcement agencies outside the United Arab Emirates.\"

If interpreted strictly, this may mean that international authorities need to submit requests in accordance with the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, rather than relying on Binance\'s voluntary cooperation in an immediate asset freeze.

However, the guidance allows transfers as \"necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims\" and mentions examples of requests from U.S. regulators. Binance insists this allows it to continue to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement while complying with United Arab Emirates privacy laws.

Binance said: \"We will not change the way we interact with U.S. law enforcement in any way, form or form.\"

The company\'s head of corporate communications pointed out to BeInCrypto that Binance is expanding rather than reducing its cooperation with the Justice Department.

Why voluntary cooperation matters now

The question is even more important because many of the oversight processes established by Binance after reaching a landmark settlement in 2023 have been significantly relaxed.

In November 2023, Binance pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, including operating unauthorized remittance business and violating sanctions. The company agreed to pay more than $4.3 billion in fines and undergo three years of independent compliance monitoring. Under the plea agreement, Binance also promised to \"fully cooperate\" with U.S. and global law enforcement agencies.

Since then, the Justice Department has suspended multiple corporate surveillance programs. A memorandum issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Branch in April 2025 ended the so-called practice of \"regulating digital assets through prosecution\" and disbanded the national cryptocurrency enforcement team.

According to Information News, an internal memorandum stated that Binance will stop \"bona fide freezing\" and sometimes requires more legal procedures, including mutual legal assistance treaty requests, before making decisions on specific asset freezing or seizure requests. If the idea is implemented, it may take longer for investigators to recover digital assets that may have been diverted.

However, compliance issues remain. The International Alliance of Investigative Journalists reported that the Huione Group, linked to Cambodia, transferred at least US$408 million through Binance in November 2025, while the exchange was being monitored by court officials. In April 2026, Senator Richard Blumenthal asked the Justice and Treasury Departments to provide relevant information after reports that more than $1 billion was transferred to Iran-related wallets through Binance.

Scott Armstrong, a former Justice Department fraud officer, said the rumored change could lead to \"an additional and frankly unnecessary obstacle that will cause many problems for the law enforcement community.\"

Focus

Binance revealed that it has communicated with department officials regarding the Ministry of Justice memorandum and tried to end the monitoring status imposed on it by the court. Whether this disagreement stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of Abu Dhabi\'s global market privacy law or represents a change in operating procedures that will have a significant impact on cross-border cryptocurrency enforcement.

Given that Binance currently accounts for two-fifths of the global market share of centralized spot cryptocurrency transactions, law enforcement agencies have increasingly relied on Binance to efficiently freeze stolen or sanctioned assets. If more formal requests are needed in the future, the international investigation process will become much slower and more complex.