Binance is once again under scrutiny after internal data suggested that accounts flagged as high risk were able to move roughly $144 million in crypto even after the exchange struck a sweeping plea deal with United States authorities. The fresh allegations cut to the heart of whether the company’s promised compliance overhaul has actually changed how it handles suspicious activity on its platform.
At stake is more than one firm’s reputation. The claims raise broader questions about how effectively the crypto industry can police itself when the incentives to keep large clients trading collide with obligations to detect money laundering, sanctions evasion, and potential terrorism financing.
The plea deal that was supposed to change everything
When Binance agreed to a massive settlement with United States authorities in 2023, the message was supposed to be clear: the era of lax controls was over. The company accepted a penalty of $4.368 billion and acknowledged serious past compliance failures, while pledging to tighten its systems and cooperate with ongoing oversight. For regulators, that figure was meant to signal a turning point in how the largest global exchange would handle risky flows.
That context is crucial to understanding why the new allegations are so explosive. If, after paying $4.368 billion and promising sweeping reforms, Binance still allowed accounts with obvious red flags to keep moving large sums, it suggests the plea deal may have changed the paperwork more than the underlying behavior. Internal files cited in one $4.368 billion settlement describe suspicious login patterns and weak controls that persisted even after the agreement, underscoring how difficult it is to retrofit robust compliance onto a platform built for speed and scale.
Inside the $144 million in suspicious flows
The core of the new reporting centers on a cluster of accounts that were already on internal watchlists but apparently remained active. According to leaked data, 13 suspicious Binance accounts collectively moved about $144 million in crypto after the 2023 settlement, despite being associated with patterns that should have triggered stronger intervention. The figure is not a rounding error in a sprawling exchange’s books, it is a sign that high risk users may have continued to operate with limited friction.
Those 13 accounts were not minor retail traders. Internal records reviewed by investigators show that they were part of a larger pool that had handled roughly $1.7 billion in crypto since 2021, with around $144 in volume flagged as particularly problematic. The fact that such a small group could be tied to $1.7 in flows, and still move $144 m after the compliance reset, suggests that Binance’s systems either failed to escalate the risk or chose not to fully act on it. One summary of the internal data notes that Internal Binance records linked the accounts to $1.7 and $144 in suspect activity, underscoring how concentrated the problem was.
What the leaked internal data actually shows
The leaked files do more than tally up suspicious transfers, they paint a picture of how risk signals were handled inside the exchange. Internal Financial Times files, as described in one Dec Report, show that compliance staff had identified unusual login patterns, geographic inconsistencies, and transaction behaviors that typically warrant closer scrutiny. Yet the accounts were not promptly frozen or offboarded, allowing them to continue moving large sums even as the company publicly touted its new controls.
From a compliance perspective, that gap between detection and decisive action is the most damning detail. It suggests that Binance’s systems were capable of spotting anomalies but that the escalation process, or the will to act on those alerts, lagged behind. When accounts with repeated red flags remain active, one industry observer quoted in a Dec analysis argued that the problem looks less like a one-off oversight and more like a structural challenge in how the platform prioritizes risk versus revenue.
How the suspicious accounts operated after the settlement
What stands out in the leaked material is not just that the accounts existed, but how they continued to function after the settlement. Rather than being immediately shut down, the 13 suspicious accounts appear to have kept trading and transferring funds, sometimes in patterns that mirrored their pre-plea behavior. Over time, those activities added up to $144 m in suspicious transfers, a figure that would be hard to miss in any serious transaction monitoring system.
Reporting on the internal data indicates that these accounts were linked to concerns about money laundering and, in some cases, potential terrorism financing. One breakdown notes that the 13 accounts were involved in $144 million in suspicious transfers and that some had already been flagged for links to terrorism financing risks, yet they were not fully blocked. A detailed $144 million in suspicious transfers summary describes how these flows continued since the settlement, raising questions about whether Binance’s new controls were applied consistently to high risk clients.
The broader pattern of suspicious activity on Binance
The 13 accounts at the center of the latest leak are part of a larger pattern that has dogged Binance for years. Internal data reviewed by investigators shows that suspicious accounts continued to operate on the platform even as the company publicly emphasized its crackdown. One briefing notes that these Suspicious accounts moved about US$144 m at the time of the transactions, suggesting that the problem was not confined to a single episode but reflected ongoing gaps in enforcement.
That pattern is echoed in other analyses that track how flagged accounts behaved after the settlement. A concise Suspicious accounts briefing notes that Binance’s crackdown did not fully prevent risky users from moving funds, even as the company faced intense scrutiny from regulators and counterparties. When I look at those numbers alongside the $144 and $144 m figures, the picture that emerges is of a platform that has upgraded its rhetoric and some of its tools, but still struggles to consistently translate risk flags into decisive action.
Why the $144 million figure matters for regulators
For regulators, the $144 million figure is not just a headline number, it is a test of whether Binance has lived up to the spirit of its plea deal. After paying $4.368 billion and agreeing to extensive monitoring, the expectation was that high risk accounts would face swift and robust intervention. The fact that 13 known suspicious accounts could still move $144 m in suspect transfers raises the possibility that the company’s internal incentives remain misaligned with the compliance obligations it accepted.
Regulatory agencies are likely to view the leaked data as evidence that more intrusive oversight may be necessary. If internal alerts and watchlists are not enough to stop problematic flows, authorities may push for stricter reporting requirements, more frequent audits, or even limits on certain types of clients. One When accounts commentary framed the issue as an escalation challenge, arguing that repeated red flags without decisive action point to deeper governance problems that cannot be solved by technology alone.
What the reporting says about Binance’s internal culture
Beyond the raw numbers, the leaked files and subsequent coverage hint at a culture inside Binance that has struggled to fully pivot from growth-at-all-costs to compliance-first. Analysts who have reviewed the data suggest that while the company has invested in more sophisticated monitoring tools, the decision making around high value clients remains cautious, particularly when those clients generate significant trading volume. That tension can lead to situations where accounts are flagged, but not immediately frozen, as staff weigh the financial impact of cutting them off.
One detailed write up by Simon Chandler describes how Suspicious accounts continued to operate on Binance since the November 2023 settlement, despite internal concerns. In my view, that persistence suggests that the company’s culture is still in transition, with compliance teams pushing for stricter enforcement while business units remain wary of losing lucrative clients. Until that internal balance shifts decisively toward risk mitigation, episodes like the $144 million in suspicious flows are likely to keep surfacing.
How the $1.7 billion context reshapes the story
Focusing only on the $144 million figure risks missing the larger backdrop. The 13 accounts at the center of the leak are part of a broader network that, according to internal data, handled $1.7 billion in crypto since 2021. That scale matters because it shows that the suspicious flows were not isolated anomalies but part of a sustained pattern of activity that spanned multiple years and regulatory cycles.
Details from one Details have been leaked account note that the 13 suspicious Binance accounts moved $144 m after the 2023 settlement and $1.7 billion since 2021, with Suspicious accounts continuing to operate and handle eight or nine figure sums. When I weigh those numbers together, the story shifts from a post-plea slipup to a question about whether Binance has ever fully gotten ahead of the risks posed by a subset of its largest and most opaque clients.
What comes next for Binance and the wider crypto industry
The revelations about $144 million in suspicious flows after a record plea deal will almost certainly intensify pressure on Binance, but they also send a warning to the rest of the industry. Exchanges that have grown rapidly by courting global users now face a world in which regulators expect bank grade controls, especially around money laundering and terrorism financing. If Binance, with its resources and visibility, struggles to fully align its operations with those expectations, smaller platforms may find the bar even harder to clear.
For users and institutional partners, the episode underscores the importance of scrutinizing not just an exchange’s marketing about compliance, but the hard data on how it handles high risk accounts. As more internal records surface and as regulators digest the $144 m and $1.7 figures tied to these 13 accounts, I expect tougher questions about how crypto platforms balance growth with responsibility. Whether Binance can convincingly answer those questions will shape not only its own future, but also how policymakers treat the sector in the years ahead.
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