Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"
Binance has faced legal challenges, billions in fines, and the arrest of its co-founder on its rise to the pinnacle of global cryptocurrency exchanges. Just when everything seemed to settle down, French prosecutors dropped a money laundering bombshell on the exchange.
A report by Reuters on January 28 stated that the Paris prosecutor's office is investigating Binance for alleged money laundering and drug trafficking. Less than 24 hours later, a Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that these allegations are untrue and relate to false accusations made by French authorities years ago.
From 2021 to 2025, Binance's regulatory backlash has affected at least 10 countries, with accusations ranging from violations of anti-money laundering laws to failure to register as a securities business.
This week's Crypto Biz analyzed the latest regulatory challenges involving two leading cryptocurrency exchanges, MicroStrategy's latest strategy for acquiring more Bitcoin, and the arrival of tokenized government bonds on the XRP Ledger.
Binance has denied any wrongdoing related to the French investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange's money laundering activities.
On January 28, Reuters reported that the Paris prosecutor's office is investigating Binance's activities from 2019 to 2024, focusing on money laundering allegations related to drug trafficking. According to previous reports by Cointelegraph, Binance has been under investigation by French regulators for money laundering issues at least since 2022.
A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange firmly denies these allegations, adding: "Binance is deeply disappointed to learn that the Paris branch of the French prosecutor's office (JUNALCO) has decided to refer this long-standing matter to the French judiciary for further investigation."
Outside of France, Binance is also facing several legal lawsuits globally, including in the United States, where regulators continue to file civil suits against the exchange.
Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has admitted to operating an unlicensed remittance business in the U.S. and agreed to pay a $300 million fine and forfeit assets as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
This plea was made in Manhattan federal court following a lengthy investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange. Last March, U.S. prosecutors stated: "KuCoin employees repeatedly indicated on public social media sites that KuCoin's KYC is not mandatory, including in responses to posts from individuals claiming to be customers in the U.S."
For the Department of Justice, this is a huge red flag, as KuCoin essentially acknowledged that it does not have an effective anti-money laundering and "know your customer" program.
On the same day it disclosed an $1 billion acquisition of Bitcoin, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy announced a new stock issuance plan to raise cash for "general corporate purposes," including plans to acquire more BTC. According to details, MicroStrategy intends to offer 2.5 million units of perpetual preferred stock, which has liquidation priority and pays dividends at a fixed rate.
The company stated: "MicroStrategy intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin and working capital."
Source: Michael Saylor
Tokenization protocol Ondo Finance plans to deploy its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund on the XRP Ledger, allowing investors to access government bonds that can be redeemed with the Ripple stablecoin RLUSD.
According to an announcement on January 28, the Ondo Short-Term U.S. Government Treasury (OUSG) fund will join the XRP Ledger within the next six months. OUSG provides exposure to short-term U.S. Treasury securities backed by the BlackRock U.S. Dollar Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). This is the latest instance of traditional financial assets being tokenized in the real world.
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