Binance Tells DOJ: Abu Dhabi Rulebook Ain't the Boss of Us 🇦🇪

Binance has rejected a US Justice Department warning that the exchange would cooperate less with American law enforcement, attributing the reported memo to a misreading of its Abu Dhabi Global Market obligations. In an interview with BeInCrypto, Binance's Head of Corporate Communications said any suggestion of reduced cooperation is "wrong," and that the exchange has informed both the DOJ and ADGM that its process for handling US law enforcement requests will remain unchanged. "We are not going to change in any way, shape or form, the way that we interact with law enforcement in America," the spokesperson said.

The dispute stems from an internal DOJ memo described by The Information and reported by BeInCrypto on Wednesday, which warned prosecutors handling crypto cases to expect diminished assistance from Binance. The memo reportedly said Binance would discontinue courtesy account freezes, pushing investigators to use Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties, or MLATs, to freeze or seize accounts. Binance said it has not seen the memo but does not dispute its existence. The exchange's communications lead suggested the memo may reflect confusion over ADGM rules, noting that while the Abu Dhabi framework calls for standardizing how requests are routed, those measures are guidelines and are not being applied to US agencies. "Because of our global license under the ADGM, we are technically, by ADGM rules, supposed to implement those measures. But they are just guidelines. We are not doing that in America," the spokesperson told BeInCrypto.

The regulatory question centers on ADGM's data protection regulations, which bar the transfer of personal data out of the free zone. Official ADGM guidance says disclosures to UAE law enforcement "would not extend to cover requests from law enforcement agencies outside of the UAE," a restriction that, read narrowly, could force foreign agencies onto treaty channels such as MLATs. The same guidance, however, permits data transfers tied to legal claims and cites a US authority's request as a legitimate example, leaving Binance with lawful grounds to continue cooperating with US counterparts. Binance.com became the first global crypto exchange licensed under ADGM, with supervision beginning on January 5, 2026, and the policy changes referenced in the memo reportedly began on June 8, five months into that license.

The controversy comes as Binance is actively negotiating a formal end to the DOJ monitorship imposed under its 2023 plea agreement, with the reported memo circulating as those talks advance. The Justice Department sent the internal notice in early June, according to a July 8 post on X by journalist Leo Schwartz. Neither the DOJ nor ADGM has publicly commented on Binance's characterization of the episode, and Binance has said it will continue handling US requests through its existing channels regardless of the memo's contents.