Accused of circumventing sanctions, Binance counterattacks

Binance is still paying the price for its past. After the record fine of 2023, after the prison for CZ, the giant had to clean himself up. But now new accusations are resurfacing. A billion dollars would have passed to Iran via its coffers. Worse: internal investigators would have been fired. The image of the crypto exchange takes a hit. But Richard Teng, the boss, does not intend to let this happen.

A billion under sanctions: the investigation that shakes Binance

Iran recorded $7.8 billion in crypto activity in 2025. In this colossal flow, part of it would have taken a very specific path. February 13, Fortune Libra an explosive investigation. Inside sources, supporting documents: Binance investigators reportedly discovered more than $1 billion in transactions linked to Iran.

Between March 2024 and August 2025, massive flows of USDT passed through the Tron network. The problem ? This period takes place after the historic agreement with the American justice system, after the promise of “regulatory maturity” solemnly made to the authorities.

Another annoying revelation: at least five investigators were fired after reporting the information. Three of them came from law enforcement, financial intelligence bigwigs. Four compliance executives have also reportedly left the ship in recent months. Robert Appleton, formerly of the Justice Department, sums up the unease:

It's rather shocking that this happened under monitoring with internal investigators.

Binance's past definitely sticks to its coattails.

Richard Teng empties his magazine into the crypto-sphere

Richard Teng doesn't let it go. On February 16, the boss of Binance posts on a message that hits :

The file must be clear. No sanctions violations have been found, no investigators have been fired for raising concerns, and Binance continues to meet its regulatory commitments.

He asks Fortune for corrections. He explains that the exchange conducted its own investigation with external lawyers, and that the result is clear: zero violations. To support his claims, he brings out the heavy artillery: 1,300 employees dedicated to compliance, partnerships with Chainalysis and Elliptic, compliance with the laws of 21 jurisdictions.

The BNB issuer no longer simply denies. He counterattacks all the way. But a question remains: why so many departures from the compliance team if everything is going well?

Tether and Tron, the cursed tandem that sticks to Binance’s coattails

Last but not least detail: all the disputed transactions used the same technical pair. USDT on the Tron network. It's no coincidence that this couple comes back so often. Tron, fast and economical, is also significantly less traceable than Ethereum.

Sanctions evaders have understood this perfectly. OFAC has also just sanctioned two British exchanges for exactly the same reasons, with the same methods.

The Central Bank of Iran itself purchased for 500 million USDT recently, just to keep a reserve of dollars outside the traditional banking system. Binance, as the largest crypto exchange on the planet, unwillingly becomes the natural receptacle for these questionable flows.

Whether she likes it or not, she attracts them like a magnet. Guilty or not? The debate remains open. But the patterns accumulate in a disturbing way.

What to remember from the Iranian affair

• $1 billion: the amount of suspicious transactions according to the Fortune investigation;
• 5 investigators: the number of compliance officers who would have been dismissed after having alerted;
• 4.3 billion: the historic fine that Binance had to forget;
• 610 dollars: the price of BNB, unperturbed despite the media storm;
• 500 million: purchases of USDT by the Central Bank of Iran to circumvent sanctions.

So, is Binance telling the truth or are things beyond its control? What remains under his control, however, also alarms. Observers wonder if the crypto giant made October's crash worse. Its servers had crashed, traders had remained blocked. The question deserves to be asked.