Binance Employees Released After UAE Inquiry Into…

Binance said two employees detained in the United Arab Emirates have been released after answering questions about third-party fund movements through a company client money account. The exchange stressed that the staff members were treated as witnesses rather than targets and were cleared without charges.

The detentions occurred in recent weeks while local police examined possible financial crimes linked to transactions involving Binance. According to reports cited by the exchange, one employee was stopped at Sharjah airport and held overnight, while another Binance worker based in Dubai had previously been questioned at a police station in July. UAE authorities have not identified the transactions, clients, or suspected offenses under review.

Binance acknowledged that the handling of institutional client money accounts is still an emerging concept in many jurisdictions. The company said it is working with Dubai Police and authorities across other Emirates to establish clear coordination procedures.

Why the UAE matters

The inquiry carries particular weight because the UAE has become a central hub for Binance. In March 2025, Abu Dhabi investment group MGX invested $2 billion in Binance in what the exchange described as its first institutional investment, paid in stablecoin. At the time, Binance said roughly 1,000 of its approximately 5,000 employees were based in the UAE.

The relationship deepened in December 2025, when Binance received authorization from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market for its global platform. The regulated structure includes separate entities for exchange operations, clearing, custody, trading, and money services. Binance's current terms list Nest Exchange Limited as operator of regulated exchange activities, Nest Clearing and Custody Limited as clearing and custody entity, and Nest Trading Limited as the entity authorized for dealing, arranging transactions, and money services.

Compliance backdrop

The episode follows years of heightened law-enforcement attention on Binance. In 2023, the exchange agreed to pay more than $4 billion to resolve U.S. criminal and civil investigations involving anti-money laundering, sanctions, and licensing violations. Former CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and stepped down. His successor, Richard Teng, previously led the ADGM financial regulator, giving Binance leadership direct experience with the UAE regulatory system.

The UAE case also echoes Binance's 2024 confrontation with Nigerian authorities, though under far different circumstances. Tigran Gambaryan, then Binance's head of financial crime compliance, was detained after traveling to Nigeria and later charged alongside Binance with laundering more than $35 million. Both denied the allegations. Gambaryan spent about eight months in detention before prosecutors withdrew the money laundering case against him in October 2024. The Nigerian government continued its separate case against Binance.

So far, the UAE inquiry has developed differently: Binance says its employees were released without charges. Still, the central question remains unanswered — what specific fund movements triggered the police interest, and whether the matter will expand into broader scrutiny of Binance's client-money controls in one of its most important markets.