Binance pushes for agreement with U.S. DOJ… "Three-year independent compliance monitoring may be concluded"

Binance is reportedly negotiating with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to end the three-year independent compliance monitor put in place under the 2023 agreement.

According to Bloomberg on the 9th (local time), the DOJ is reviewing whether to lift the independent monitor requirement for Binance. The measure was part of the $4.3 billion settlement Binance reached with the DOJ in 2023 over multiple alleged regulatory violations, including anti-money laundering deficiencies; it applied to the company's global operations at the time and did not include the U.S. subsidiary Binance.US.

Bloomberg said the discussion could be part of the DOJ's broader move to scale back or end external monitor arrangements in certain cases. At least three companies — Glencore, NatWest Group, and Australia's Ostal — have been identified as cases that avoided extending external monitors. Companies have criticized external monitor programs as costly and operationally burdensome.

The timing of Binance seeking regulatory relief coincides with a trend in the U.S. toward a more pro-industry regulatory environment. The Trump administration has pushed major measures including signing the stablecoin bill known as the 'Genius Act,' passage of a congressional market-structure bill, and an anti-central-bank-digital-currency (CBDC) bill.

Paul Atkins, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recently said, "The era of regulation through enforcement is over," and pledged to provide clearer guidance on matters like tokenization. The SEC later concluded that liquid staking tokens are generally not subject to securities laws. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is also aligning with the administration's digital economic policy direction by, among other things, creating a framework that would allow foreign virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchanges to serve U.S. customers on a limited basis.