The Wall Street Journal recently published a report claiming that Binance's internal compliance team tracked over $1 billion in cryptocurrency transactions linked to Iranian organizations, alleging that employees who reported this behavior were excluded from the investigation. The report also mentioned a Hong Kong-based intermediary suspected of facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars in stablecoin transactions flowing to Iranian networks.
In response, Binance has strongly denied the allegations. The company stated that all internal compliance investigations are ongoing and have not been halted, and that the relevant issues have been comprehensively addressed internally. Binance emphasized in an official statement: "We have never terminated any compliance investigation, and this media continues to publish reports that are inconsistent with the facts."
Binance's global litigation head, Dugan Bliss, stated that such false reports have caused substantial damage to the company's reputation and business operations, and that the lawsuit aims to correct misinformation and protect the company's legitimate rights.
Binance further pointed out that its compliance team has identified complex patterns of fund flows involving multiple parties in Asia and the Middle East, and has taken measures to close related accounts, with all findings submitted to regulatory authorities in accordance with the law. The company emphasized that it has invested over 1,500 professionals and hundreds of millions of dollars in building advanced monitoring and anti-money laundering systems, demonstrating its firm commitment to compliance standards.
Notably, reports indicate that the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a new investigation aimed at assessing whether Iranian individuals have used the Binance platform to evade international sanctions. This investigation involves tracing over $1 billion in transactions, but there is currently no clear evidence indicating that the subjects of the investigation directly point to Binance itself. Binance stated that it has not received official notification and reiterated its commitment to cooperating with global regulatory reviews.