Binance denies new WSJ report alleging $850M in Iran-linked transactions
Binance has strongly denied a new Wall Street Journal report claiming $850 million in Iran-linked crypto transactions flowed through the exchange, asserting the reporting is ‘fundamentally inaccurate’ and that investigations were conducted.
Binance is pushing back against a Wall Street Journal report alleging significant Iran-linked crypto transactions. The exchange claims it never permitted such transactions and that any flagged activity occurred before sanctions were imposed. Binance has also filed a defamation lawsuit against the publication.
Imagine Binance is like a giant bank, but for crypto. The Wall Street Journal found that some people were secretly sending money through Binance to Iran, which is against the rules. Binance says they didn't know about this and that they stopped it before it became a big problem. They even investigated and found out the money was coming from someone who was already banned. It's like if your parents found you hiding cookies, you'd tell them you didn't steal them, right? Binance is saying the same thing – they didn't do anything wrong, and they fixed the problem.
Analysis
According to a Wall Street Journal report published on Thursday, Binance is facing renewed scrutiny regarding its handling of Iranian-linked transactions. The report alleges that approximately $850 million in funds flowed through Binance accounts connected to Babak Zanjani, a previously sanctioned Iranian financier, over a two-year period. Zanjani’s firm, Zedcex, along with accounts linked to his sister, romantic partner, and a company director, operated from the same devices, as detailed in the report. The Journal highlights that Binance’s internal compliance reports flagged the Zedcex account after detecting access from Tehran in late 2024. Despite this initial alert, the account remained open for over a year, triggering more than a dozen internal alerts. Binance’s own investigators recommended shutting down the accounts and reporting them to authorities, but these recommendations were apparently not followed. The WSJ further claims that Binance allowed Iranian funds after settling a previous anti-money laundering and sanctions violation case in 2023, resulting in a $4.3 billion fine. The Justice Department is currently investigating Iran’s use of Binance to evade sanctions following this guilty plea. The article also details further allegations, including $107 million in crypto moved into Binance accounts by Iran’s central bank in 2025, and approximately $260 million in direct transactions between Binance accounts and Iranian terrorist financiers during 2024 and 2025. Binance CEO Richard Teng responded to the report on X, calling it ‘fundamentally inaccurate’ and stating that Binance has a ‘best-in-class’ compliance program. The exchange has filed a defamation lawsuit against the publication seeking damages and a jury trial. Binance has also previously denied shutting down an internal investigation into roughly $1 billion that flowed through the platform to networks linked to Iranian proxy groups, and has responded to a Senate inquiry denying it facilitated transactions to Iranian entities. The exchange continues to cooperate with regulators and law enforcement.
Key points
- Binance denies the WSJ report’s claims of $850M in Iran-linked transactions.
- The report identified Babak Zanjani as a central figure in a crypto payment network.
- Binance claims investigations were conducted and the activity occurred before sanctions.
- Binance has filed a defamation lawsuit against the WSJ.
- The Justice Department is investigating Iran’s use of Binance to evade sanctions.
