Binance Faces Fresh US Probe Over Alleged Iran Sanctions Violations

The Manhattan US Attorney's Office is investigating whether Binance knowingly allowed trades that violated US sanctions on Iran, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday. The probe is being led by the Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, with the Justice Department's Criminal Division in Washington also participating.

For anyone with BUSD, USDC, or any token that has touched a Binance order book, the practical question is what DOJ exposure could eventually mean for the exchange's US footprint. The DOJ has not announced charges or details, and an investigation does not establish wrongdoing and may conclude without charges being filed. Neither report addresses Binance.US, the separate US entity, or what direct exposure the probe creates for BUSD or USDC partners.

The probe adds detail to one the Wall Street Journal first reported in March. At the time, the Journal said the DOJ was examining whether Iran used Binance to evade US sanctions, and it was unclear whether Binance itself, its users, or both were under investigation. When the March report came out, Binance told Cointelegraph it was not aware of any DOJ investigation.

A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph on Tuesday: "We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for sanctions violations. We fully cooperate with law enforcement, and we remain committed to rooting out and shutting down bad actors."

The fresh probe follows a DOJ civil forfeiture action seeking about $61 million in crypto tied to black-market Iranian oil sales. Per CoinGape, those funds were laundered in part through Binance accounts used by Chinese firms Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, and were intended to finance Iran's IRGC. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng publicly clarified that Binance was not named a defendant in that case and was not accused of wrongdoing. Teng said Binance "did not permit any transactions with sanctioned individuals," and added: "We will never compromise on security or compliance. If you seek to use our industry to evade the law, we will find you, freeze you out, and hand you over to the authorities."

This is not Binance's first run with US sanctions enforcers. In 2023, the exchange pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws in a US DOJ case and agreed to pay about $4.3 billion. Founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao also pleaded guilty, stepped down as CEO, and served four months in prison. The current investigation is separate from that settlement.

What is still missing: neither report names the prosecutors leading the probe, clarifies whether it is criminal, civil, or both, or puts a dollar figure on the trading that allegedly violated Iran sanctions. The status of the compliance monitor Binance agreed to in 2023 is also not addressed.