Crypto’s biggest exchange fights back against allegations of moving billions of Iran-linked money

U.S. sanctions are legal restrictions that prohibit American individuals, companies, and financial institutions from conducting business with Iran and other designated countries. The government monitors cryptocurrency transactions because digital assets can be used to circumvent traditional banking oversight. Unlike conventional banks, which have established compliance systems, cryptocurrency exchanges historically lacked robust screening mechanisms. When Binance pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws, it demonstrated how crypto platforms could facilitate billions of dollars in illegal transactions to sanctioned countries like Iran, Cuba, and Syria. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) now actively designates cryptocurrency exchanges and digital asset wallets involved in sanctions evasion to prevent the Iranian regime from accessing international financial systems.

According to internal documents reviewed by Fortune, investigators on Binance's compliance team uncovered evidence that entities tied to Iran had received more than $1 billion through the exchange from March 2024 through August 2025, potentially violating sanctions laws. These transactions were routed using the stablecoin Tether on the Tron blockchain. Following this discovery, Binance fired the top investigators who had uncovered this evidence. This is particularly significant because in 2023, Binance had pleaded guilty to sanctions violations and agreed to pay $4.3 billion—one of the largest corporate fines in U.S. history—while pledging to enter a new phase of 'regulatory maturity' under government-imposed monitorships. The dismissal of investigators raises concerns about whether the company is genuinely committed to compliance or whether it is suppressing internal oversight to avoid further regulatory action.