USDBinance Rejects $850M Iran-Linked Transaction Claims
Exchange says allegations misrepresent blockchain exposure and sanctions timing
TL;DR
- Binance disputed allegations that an Iran-linked network processed roughly $850 million through the exchange.
- Richard Teng called the claims “fundamentally inaccurate” and said the activity occurred before sanctions designations.
- The dispute arrives while Binance remains under a U.S.-appointed compliance monitor tied to its 2023 settlement.
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Binance is disputing allegations that an Iran-linked payments network tied to Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani processed roughly $850 million through the exchange over a two-year period, arguing that the claims mischaracterize indirect blockchain exposure as direct platform activity.
The allegations, published on May 22, 2026, center on a payments network linked to Zanjani, an Iranian financier described as an “antisanction” operator. The network allegedly helped preserve financial flows connected to Iranian regime-linked or military-linked activity.
The alleged activity was said to move largely through a single trading account that reportedly remained active as recently as January. Separate reporting on the same allegations said some transactions continued as late as May 2026, leaving unresolved differences in the reported timeline.
People close to Zanjani, including a sister, a romantic partner, and a director of his company, allegedly operated additional accounts that were accessed from the same devices. Binance investigators allegedly identified the shared-device pattern, while the primary account reportedly remained active for at least 15 months.
Binance CEO Richard Teng rejected the allegations publicly on X, calling them “fundamentally inaccurate.” Teng said the transactions referenced in the allegations occurred before the individuals involved were sanctioned.
A Binance spokesperson said the exchange “did not permit any transactions with sanctioned individuals” and argued that the allegations “materially overstates Binance’s role” by conflating broader blockchain activity with direct Binance platform flows, including deposits, withdrawals, trading activity, account turnover, and network-level volumes.
Teng also wrote, “Binance has zero tolerance for illicit activity,” as the company defended its compliance controls and sanctions-monitoring framework.
Binance said the allegations incorrectly merge direct exchange activity with indirect blockchain exposure, where funds move through intermediary wallets and decentralized addresses before eventually reaching wallets tied to sanctioned entities.
The exchange said blockchain tracing can show that a platform touched a wider transaction path without proving that the exchange directly serviced a sanctioned person or account at the time of the activity.
Binance separately released its own analysis of a broader blockchain sequence totaling $126.1 million, which the company said originated from regulated institutions and stablecoin issuers in Singapore. Binance said roughly $24.1 million from that sequence eventually reached wallets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The company argued that multi-layered blockchain routing becomes difficult to stop at the first point of movement when the originating addresses are not officially sanctioned or flagged by regulators.
Binance also pointed to internal compliance figures showing sanctions-linked transaction volume falling from roughly 0.284% of total exchange activity in early 2024 to 0.009% by mid-2025. Another compliance comparison cited by Binance said sanctions exposure had fallen nearly 97% compared with 2024 levels.
The exchange said it now employs more than 1,500 people in compliance and risk-management roles, representing roughly one-quarter of its global workforce.
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Binance Faces Continuing U.S. Oversight
The dispute comes while Binance remains under a U.S.-appointed compliance monitor tied to its 2023 settlement over sanctions and anti-money-laundering violations. The settlement resulted in roughly $4.3 billion in penalties.
The U.S. Department of Justice has also been investigating whether Iran used Binance to evade U.S. sanctions.
Separate scrutiny intensified in May 2026, when the U.S. Treasury privately demanded that Binance comply with the independent monitoring program connected to its 2023 guilty plea. The request reportedly cited allegations that more than $1 billion passed through the exchange to Iran-linked entities during 2024 and 2025.
Binance also sued Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, for defamation earlier in 2026 following earlier reporting tied to sanctions compliance and internal investigations.
The ongoing legal dispute concerns allegations about Iran-linked transaction flows and claims that internal compliance investigators who identified suspicious accounts were dismissed. Binance has strongly disputed those claims.
The latest allegations also revisited claims that internal investigators had previously identified more than 1,500 Iran-linked accounts allegedly operating through intermediaries.
The lawsuit could allow lawyers to seek internal emails, Slack communications, and compliance reports through legal discovery, while investigators are reportedly questioning former employees and reviewing whether Binance’s newer compliance controls successfully closed channels allegedly used by Iranian networks.
FAQ
What is Binance accused of?
Binance is accused of processing roughly $850 million tied to an Iran-linked network.
What is Binance’s main defense?
Binance says the activity occurred before sanctions designations and involved indirect blockchain exposure.
Who is Babak Zanjani?
He is an Iranian financier described as an “antisanction” operator.
What did Richard Teng say?
Richard Teng called the allegations “fundamentally inaccurate.”
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
