China's Supreme Court amends the Anti-Money Laundering Law to include "virtual assets"! The Supreme People's Procuratorate said that the number of people prosecuted for money laundering has increased 20 times since 2019. China's Supreme Court amends the Anti-Money Laundering Law to include "virtual assets".

China’s Supreme Court and Procuratorate have revised their interpretation of the anti-money laundering law to include “virtual asset” transactions for the first time. China adopted its current anti-money laundering law on January 1, 2007, and the latest revision is the first major update in nearly two decades.

At a meeting on August 19, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said that under the Supreme Court’s new interpretation of the law, trading in “virtual assets” is now listed as one of the recognized methods of money laundering.

A new class action lawsuit has been filed against Binance in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleging that the company and its founder Changpeng Zhao facilitated widespread money laundering and violated U.S. financial regulations.

The lawsuit, filed Friday by former exchange users Philip Martin, Natalie Tang and Yatin Khanna, alleges that Binance’s negligent compliance practices allowed bad actors to use the platform to launder stolen cryptocurrency, causing significant financial losses to U.S. users.

Representatives for Binance did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.

The complaint details how Binance, under the leadership of Xiaogang “Zhao,” allegedly operated as an unlicensed money transmission business, willfully disregarded anti-money laundering requirements, and facilitated transactions that helped criminals conceal the source of illicit funds.

According to the plaintiffs, Binance’s rapid rise to become the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange was the result of its deliberate circumvention of U.S. regulations that would otherwise have restricted its access to the lucrative U.S. market.

The lawsuit also alleges that Zhao, who founded Binance in 2017, prioritized profits over legal compliance and created an environment that encouraged U.S. users to bypass the platform’s minimal compliance checks.

The plaintiffs claim that Binance’s failure to implement strong anti-money laundering and know-your-customer protocols caused the exchange to become a hub for money laundering of cryptocurrencies that were often stolen through hacks and other illegal activities.

The new class action lawsuit comes after a series of legal actions against Zhao Xiaogang and Binance. In November 2023, Zhao Wei and Binance reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, in which Zhao Wei admitted to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

As part of the settlement, Binance agreed to pay a fine of more than $4 billion, and Zhao Xiaogang resigned as CEO.

Additionally, Zhao Xiaogang was fined $50 million personally for his role in the company’s violations, which included facilitating transactions for users in sanctioned regions such as Iran and North Korea.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is facing a major tax challenge in India after the Indian tax authorities issued a notice demanding that Binance pay $86 million in goods and services tax (GST). According to a local news outlet, the Indian Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence said that Binance charged Indian customers for virtual digital asset transactions without paying the corresponding taxes. The tax demand stems from the company's classification as an online information database...

Binance will be deeply involved in government penalties or lawsuits in 2024:

Nigeria’s crackdown on crypto service providers began after the country’s National Security Advisor (NSA) characterized crypto trading as a national security threat. The NSA’s classification marks a major shift in the country’s stance on cryptocurrencies — the CBN had just lifted a two-year ban on crypto trading in December last year.

Binance has agreed to pay the equivalent of $1.75 million in fines to Brazil’s security regulator for acting as a “securities intermediary” by offering derivatives trading in the country without the proper license.

Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) disclosed the 9.6 million Brazilian real settlement on Tuesday and said it had decided to accept the payment, finally settling a years-long feud with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

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