Binance

avoid.net/binance→26/100·92% conf.

[✓ FACT-CHECKED]· reviewed 3 times · last review 8 Nov 2026

Last changed 2026-11-08 · Correction — Corrections after the 8 November fact-check: Senator Blumenthal's inquiry is now dated February 2026 throughout, a duplicate pardon entry and a duplicate inquiry entry were removed from the timeline, and the earlier-incidents section no longer says there were two. Version history →

26/100

[WARNING]92% conf.

Why this score

Every page starts at	65
The subject's own conduct	-120
Concerns that are not fraud	-76.8
Incidents it suffered (e.g. hacks)	-20
Problems around it, caused by others	-1.4
Long-running	+10
Regulated	+10
Recent unresolved incident	-36.1
Accepted community evidence	-1.7
Sum	-171

Serious regulatory wrongdoing with no established harm to customers is held in WARNING (26–50).
The penalty for incidents it suffered is capped at 20 points.
1 section set aside: the claims did not hold up in a fact-check, pending correction.

Score: 26/100 (kept between 0 and 100)

How scoring works →

Page reliability: Fact-checked 2026-11-08 · 8 of 9 claims confirmed · 1 disputed

anchored·4z1sMr…dxwY

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Summary

Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao (CZ). In November 2023, Binance and CZ pleaded guilty to U.S. federal charges and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in combined penalties for Bank Secrecy Act violations, unlicensed money transmission, and sanctions evasion — the largest financial penalty ever imposed on a cryptocurrency company. CZ resigned as CEO, served a four-month prison sentence in 2024, and was controversially pardoned by President Trump in October 2025. Under CEO Richard Teng, Binance has pursued an aggressive global licensing strategy while remaining subject to ongoing compliance monitoring and new civil litigation tied to terrorist financing allegations. On or about 29 October 2026, roughly $6.3 to $6.4 billion was reported stolen from Binance hot wallets across ten blockchains, the largest crypto theft on record; the FBI and blockchain analytics firms attributed it to North Korea's TraderTraitor group. Binance says it is covering the losses with company funds and has replenished most of the affected assets, figures it reported itself and that have not been independently audited. Reporting in 2026 also described Binance requiring formal treaty requests before acting on most law-enforcement freeze and seizure requests, which Binance denies, and Binance suspended most services for EU users from 1 July 2026 after withdrawing its MiCA licence application in Greece.

Connected Entities

21 entities · 60 linked investigations

Individuals

○Changpeng Zhao○Richard Teng○Guangying Chen○Paul Atkins○Richard Jones○Richard Blumenthal○Donald Trump

Organizations

□World Liberty Financial□FTX□Alameda Research□Ethereum90□Binance (Law Enforcement Cooperation Rollback)□Sigma Chain□BAM Trading Services□Paxos Trust Company□Changpeng Zhao□Caroline Ellison□Binance - MiCA Greece Application Withdrawal□Tether□Binance□Binance Hack (October 2026)

Relationships

Changpeng Zhao→member of→FTX(90%)
Changpeng Zhao→member of→Binance(95%)
Richard Teng→member of→Binance(80%)
Guangying Chen→member of→Binance(80%)
Paul Atkins→member of→Binance(80%)
Richard Jones→member of→Binance(80%)
Richard Blumenthal→member of→Binance(75%)
Donald Trump→member of→Binance(85%)
Sigma Chain→subsidiary of→Binance(90%)
BAM Trading Services→subsidiary of→Binance(90%)
+ 30 more

Also appears in

BNB Chain Bridge·51 CoinDCX·62 Compounder Finance·0 Chads NFT·69 Socket Protocol·66 Lendf.me·50 Term Finance — Governance Exploit (August 2026)·0 Bankr·63 Trenton Richard Johnston·28 Jump Trading·42

Have evidence about Binance?

Accepted

Under review

Rejected / revoked

Community submissions

Acceptedincriminating[WAYBACK]11/3/2026, 11:01:49 PMReport
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/finance/article/343435/Binance-under-US-scrutiny-over-possible-Iran-sanctions-violations-Bloomberg-News-reports(www.thestandard.com.hk)
“[Scout] Bloomberg News, citing people familiar, reports US federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance breached Iran sanctions by failing to stop certain trading, including whether it knowingly allowed it. Binance says it fully cooperates with law enforcement.”
— avoid-scout(unverified)
Acceptedneutral[WAYBACK]6/28/2026, 11:08:32 AMReport
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/06/26/binance-tells-eu-users-it-will-no-longer-provide-services-after-failing-to-secure-mica-license(www.coindesk.com)
“[Scout] Binance withdrew its MiCA license application in Greece and said it is confident it will secure a MiCA license in the coming months, intending to approach France instead. It told customers in France, Italy, Poland and Spain it was suspending some services and could no longer accept new registrations, ahead of a June 30 deadline before MiCA rules take full effect on July 1.”
— avoid-scout(unverified)
Acceptedincriminating[WAYBACK]6/2/2026, 7:01:33 PMReport
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/03/11/us-justice-department-digs-into-irans-sanctions-evasion-via-binance(www.euronews.com)
“[Scout] Euronews reports the US Justice Department is examining Iran's alleged use of Binance to evade US sanctions and provide financial backing to groups including Yemen's Houthis, though it remains uncertain whether the investigation targets Binance itself; a separate congressional inquiry cited fund flows approaching nearly $2 billion to sanctioned entities. Binance, which pleaded guilty in 2023 to US sanctions and banking-law violations, says it did not directly transact with any sanctioned entities.”
— avoid-scout(unverified)

16 submissions awaiting moderator review.

Timeline(54 events)

July 2017

Binance launched via ICO, raising a disputed amount between $5M and $15M. BNB token issued on Ethereum.

Yahoo Finance / Forbes

2019

Alleged period of non-compliant operations in France and other EU countries begins, per French judicial probe allegations.

CoinDesk / Reuters reporting on French probe

7 May 2019

Hackers stole 7,074 BTC (~$40.7M) from Binance hot wallet. Losses covered by SAFU fund.

Binance

Summary

Connected Entities

Community submissions

Company Overview and Founding

October 2026 hot wallet theft

Attribution to North Korea

Freezes, laundering and recovery

Customer impact and Binance's reimbursement claims

DOJ, FinCEN, and OFAC Settlement — $4.3 Billion Penalty (2023)

CFTC Enforcement Action

SEC Lawsuit: 13 Charges (2023–2025)

CZ Guilty Plea, Sentencing, and Presidential Pardon

Terrorist Financing and Ongoing Sanctions Exposure

Earlier Security Incidents (2019 and 2022)

BUSD Stablecoin Shutdown

Role in FTX Collapse

Market Manipulation and Whistleblower Allegations

Nigeria: Detention of Executive Tigran Gambaryan

Compliance Monitor, Ongoing Oversight, and DOJ Monitor Removal Talks

Law Enforcement Cooperation Rollback: MLAT-Only Policy (April 2025)

Law Enforcement Cooperation Rollback: DOJ Internal Memo (June 2026)

Law Enforcement Cooperation Rollback: European Police Concerns (June 2026)

Law Enforcement Cooperation Rollback: Binance's Denial

Senior Compliance Executive Departures (2025–2026)

Binance.US (BAM Trading) Operations

EU MiCA Licence: Greece Application and Withdrawal (2026)

EU MiCA Licence: Concerns Raised by European Regulators

EU MiCA Licence: Service Suspension for EU Users (July 2026)

EU MiCA Licence: France Strategy and French Criminal Probe

EU MiCA Licence: Outlook

Leadership Transition: Richard Teng and Regulatory Expansion

Market Position and Trust Signals

Timeline(54 events)

Decision Log