Binance disputes $850M Iran-linked transaction report

Binance rejected claims that a payment network connected to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani moved roughly $850 million through its platform over two years, saying the activity occurred before sanctions and had been examined by the company.

The report described a network that processed about $850 million in transactions across two years, largely through a single trading account that remained open into January. It said allied accounts run by family members and associates were accessed from the same devices, a pattern Binance investigators flagged, and that the main account operated for at least 15 months.

Richard Teng, Binance's chief executive, wrote on social media that the story was “fundamentally inaccurate.” He wrote the referenced transactions took place before the individuals were sanctioned, that Binance had investigated the accounts before reporters contacted the company, and that the firm provided its findings prior to publication.

A Binance spokesperson told a crypto news outlet the exchange does not permit transactions with sanctioned individuals and argued the coverage conflated broader blockchain movements with direct platform flows, such as deposits, withdrawals, trading activity and account turnover. The statement added, “Binance has zero tolerance for illicit activity.”

Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against the outlet over earlier reporting; that suit, filed in March, remains active. U.S. authorities, including the Justice Department, have examined whether Iran used the exchange to evade sanctions. In May, the U.S. Treasury privately demanded that Binance comply with an independent compliance monitoring program resulting from its 2023 guilty plea, citing reports alleging more than $1 billion moved through the exchange to Iran-linked entities in 2024 and 2025.

Binance maintains it investigated the transactions and is engaging with regulators while contesting the accuracy of the allegations through litigation and public statements.