The US Justice Department warned its crypto prosecutors early last month to expect reduced cooperation from Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, The Information reported Wednesday.

Binance would stop providing “courtesy freezes” as of June 8 and would instead require Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties, or MLATs, before freezing or seizing accounts, DOJ Digital Currency Initiative counsel Rachel Jones was quoted by The Information as saying in an email to prosecutors.

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Courtesy freezes let exchanges lock suspicious accounts within hours of a law enforcement or victim request, long before formal legal documents exist. MLATs, by contrast, can take weeks or months.A no courtesy freeze policy by the largest exchange could give hackers and sanctions evaders precious time to move funds across chains and jurisdictions.

The report comes as Binance reportedly negotiates a formal end to the DOJ monitorship imposed after the company in 2023 pleaded guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. A separate Treasury monitorship stays in place; the monitor, Sharon Cohen Levin, held a town hall with Binance compliance staff, co-CEO Richard Teng, and new regulatory-adherence head Andrew Stemmer in June, The Information reported Wednesday.

AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.

Justice Department Warns Prosecutors to Expect Less Cooperation From Binance

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