Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is under investigation by the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
As part of the inquiry, the officials who probe money laundering and tax offenses have sought information from individuals with insight into Binance’s business, the report said.
“We take our legal obligations very seriously and engage with regulators and law enforcement in a collaborative fashion,” a spokesperson for Binance said in an email, adding that the company does not comment on specific matters or inquiries.
“We have worked hard to build a robust compliance program that incorporates anti-money laundering principles and tools used by financial institutions to detect and address suspicious activity,” the spokesperson added.
The investigation comes after Germany’s financial regulator BaFin last month warned that Binance risked being fined for offering its securities-tracking digital tokens without publishing an investor prospectus.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell below $50,000 Thursday afternoon, down 1.65 percent to $48,572.56, after a Bloomberg reporter tweeted that Binance faced the DOJ and IRS probe.
The drop followed another hit the currency took after Elon Musk tweeted his Tesla electric-car company would no longer accept Bitcoin for payment.