Binance responds to the US Senate and denies any direct link with Iran

Political pressure is intensifying around Binance in the United States. The world's leading crypto platform comes out of silence and head-on challenges a US Senate investigation into alleged financial links with Iran. Media accusations, international sanctions issues and power rivalries in Washington: this sensitive issue places the exchange at the heart of the standoff between the crypto industry and regulators.

Binance formally refutes Iran-related accusations

Binance sent an official response on Friday to an investigation launched in February by a group of 11 American senators, while the conflict in Iran is causing oil prices to explode. In a letter sent to Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson, members of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the platform contests the validity accusations relayed by several American media.

She describes these publications as reports “manifestly false, lacking credible evidence and defamatory on several essential points”.

THE central elements Binance's response revolves around specific facts:

• The exchange allegedly facilitated more than $1 billion in crypto transactions linked to Iranian entities, including Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust;

• Binance noted having opened an internal investigation after requests from the police;

• The entities mentioned were removed from the platform following this procedure;

• The exchange states: “to our knowledge, no Binance account has made a direct transaction with an entity based in Iran”;

• Concerning employees presented as whistleblowers;

• Binance specifies that it strictly applies its internal rules relating to data confidentiality.

This response aims to challenge both the financial accusations and the version of the facts concerning the internal management of the file.

Judicial and political liabilities that put Binance under pressure

This sequence comes as American politicians await a federal response. The eleven senators behind the initiative contacted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pamela Bondi, asking them to clarify before March 13 whether the government plans to open an investigation targeting Binance. At this stage, no public position has been communicated by the two officials.

The case also reactivates the weight of the platform's legal past in the United States. In 2023, Binance reached a settlement with US authorities and agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle lawsuits related to violations of economic sanctions and anti-money laundering laws.

In this context, its CEO at the time, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to one criminal charge and served a four-month prison sentence. US President Donald Trump granted him a presidential pardon, legally lifting the ban on him returning to the leadership of the company, even though Zhao has publicly stated that he does not want to become CEO again.

At the same time, the indirect links between Binance and the presidential entourage fuel political questions. A UAE-based company, MGX, invested $2 billion in the platform via the USD1 stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, an entity backed by Donald Trump and his sons. Several American elected officials believe that this operation creates conflicts of interest. The evolution of the file now depends on the decisions of the federal authorities and the political climate in Washington, in a context where crypto regulation remains closely linked to institutional power relations.