https://www.theblock.co/post/390952/binance-denies-firing-investigators
Binance disputed reports claiming that the exchange fired internal investigators after they uncovered roughly $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency flowing through the exchange to Iranian entities linked to terrorist organizations.
According to a New York Times report published Monday, Binance's internal investigators discovered last year that more than 1,500 accounts on the platform had been accessed from Iran and that about $1.7 billion had flowed from two Binance accounts to Iran-linked entities, including wallets tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
One of those Binance accounts belonged to Blessed Trust, a Hong Kong payments firm that operated as a fiat partner for Binance. The investigators presented their findings to senior leadership, including CEO Richard Teng and Chief Compliance Officer Noah Perlman, the NYT reported.
Leung Ka Kui, a director of Blessed Trust, told the NYT that the company did not knowingly facilitate sanctions-breaching transactions or make payments to Iranian entities, and said its work with Binance was limited to routine disbursements such as invoices and payroll. Blessed Trust could not immediately be reached for further comment.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that the internal probe identified another Hong Kong entity, Hexa Whale Trading, which moved roughly $500 million in USDT to the same Iranian network.
Investigators concluded that the funds ultimately supported Iran-backed groups such as Yemen's Islamist political and military organization Houthis, according to documents cited by both publications.
Reports claim that the internal investigators involved in the probe were suspended or fired in 2025 after presenting their findings.
The WSJ reported that executives dismantled the probe weeks after Zhao received a U.S. presidential pardon in October, while the NYT report said that at least four investigators were disciplined for alleged mishandling of confidential client data shortly after reporting the Iran-linked transactions.
Fortune previously reported that several senior compliance officials have exited in recent months as the exchange searches for a successor to CCO Perlman, who is expected to depart later this year.
Binance pushes back
In a Tuesday statement to The Block, a Binance spokesperson said no investigator was dismissed for raising compliance concerns or for reporting potential sanctions violations.
"We strongly dispute the assertions made in recent reports," the spokesperson said. "Binance did not violate sanctions laws in respect of the transactions described … [The] internal review did not find evidence of violations of applicable sanctions laws or regulations related to the transactions described."
"Binance detected and reported suspicious activity, and this is evidence that our controls are working, not the opposite," the spokesperson added.
The exchange also highlighted metrics showing declining exposure to Iranian entities. In a Monday post on X, Binance said it had reduced direct exposure to the four largest Iranian crypto exchanges by more than 97.3% between January 2024 and January 2026, from $4.19 million to about $0.11 million.
"Public blockchains are permissionless. Anyone can send assets to an exchange deposit address. Exposure cannot be reduced to zero," Binance said in the X post.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao bolstered the argument by stating on X that media reports repeated "negative narratives" from fired employees, adding that Binance has the "best compliance program in the industry."
Binance continues to operate under compliance reforms mandated by its 2023 U.S. settlement, in which the exchange pleaded guilty to anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations, and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties, with Zhao stepping down as CEO and Richard Teng taking over. Last October, President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao, who served four months in prison before his release in September 2024.
