Cryptocurrency exchange Binance's US arm has formed a new “investigations unit” with a former FBI special agent at its head, with the stated intention of preventing illegal activity on the platform.
BJ Kang will become the first “head of investigations” at Binance US, said Krishna Juvvadi, the company's head of legal.
Kang will partner with law enforcement, regulators and other exchanges to seek and stop illegal and fraudulent activity.
Binance US said staff numbers in its legal, compliance and risk operations department headcount surged 145% in the last year, equating to over one-fifth of the company’s total workforce.
Binance US is a sister company to Binace created after the then Malta-based (and now Cayman Islands) Binance – the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange – was hit by a regulatory ban in 2019.
Former special agent Kang, who worked for the FBI for almost 20 years, is known for his high-profile probes into securities fraud and insider trading at the US national security organisation.
Kang was once labelled “the most feared man on Wall Street” by Reuters after being photographed arresting Bernie Madoff – guilty of running the biggest Ponzi scheme yet – and Raj Rajaratnam, a former hedge fund manager proved guilty of insider trading.
He also used to serve at the FBI Washington Field Office’s cybercrime squad, where he looked into money laundering, extortion and hackers targeting digital assets and financial firms.
Binance, which is separate from its American arm, was accused by Reuters of processing at least US$2.35bn worth of transactions over the last year from hacks, investment frauds and narcotics sales between 2017 and 2021.