Blumenthal Sets Jan. 4 Deadline for Binance, Tether, Trump Firms
Binance, Tether, World Liberty Financial and Fight Fight Fight LLC have until Jan. 4, 2027 to voluntarily produce records. Blumenthal lacks subpoena power as ranking member, but his office now calls him the incoming PSI chair.
Binance, Tether, World Liberty Financial and Fight Fight Fight LLC have until Jan. 4, 2027 to voluntarily hand over records sought by Sen. Richard Blumenthal. If they do not, the Senate subcommittee he is poised to chair will consider what his letters call "alternative measures."
In a Nov. 5 statement, his office identified the four companies among recipients of follow-up letters. The letters state:
"Please also note that failure to voluntarily produce the requested records and information by January 4, 2027, will leave the Subcommittee with no choice but to consider alternative measures to obtain compliance"
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, in the letters
A deadline without subpoena power, for now
The deadline is voluntary. Blumenthal is currently the ranking Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) and cannot issue subpoenas on his own. The panel's rules reserve that authority to the chair or a member the chair designates.
That is why the timing matters. His office now calls him the incoming chair, and he is set to lead the panel when the new Congress convenes in January, after Democrats won the Senate with 51 seats on Nov. 4. The records deadline falls in the same month he is expected to take the gavel.
On Nov. 6, Blumenthal posted on X:
"As incoming chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I’m sending a warning to all who’ve failed to cooperate."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal
What the inquiries cover
The Binance and Tether inquiry covers illicit crypto use and what Blumenthal's office characterizes as administration self-dealing with crypto companies. Blumenthal opened the Binance inquiry in February. In March, Binance rejected the Iran sanctions evasion allegations, calling them false.
A September minority staff report found that 84% of 846 sanctioned or seizure-targeted Iran-linked wallets used USDT almost exclusively, and put Tether at about 60% of stablecoin market value. Tether responded by citing about $550 million in Iran-linked freezes it supported this year.
Separately, on Oct. 22, Blumenthal requested records from Tether and Nxum Group about payments to the consulting firm co-founded by former White House crypto adviser Bo Hines. The letter cites Wall Street Journal reporting of more than $6 million sent to Nxum, and set a response deadline of Nov. 3.
The World Liberty Financial and Fight Fight Fight inquiry began in May 2025 and covers the Trump family's crypto ventures, including the TRUMP token. Concerns include possible government-ethics violations, foreign-government investments and transactions involving foreign nationals under federal prosecution. These are subjects of the inquiry, not established findings of wrongdoing.
Why it matters
For the named companies, the choice is between voluntary production now and a possible compulsory process once Democrats control the subcommittee. The letters stop short of naming subpoenas, and the phrase "alternative measures" leaves the instrument open. The probes also arrive as the stalled CLARITY Act faces a January deadline to pass or start over, putting crypto oversight and crypto legislation on the same congressional calendar.
