The U.S. Justice Department started investigating Binance over alleged Iran sanctions violations and crypto transactions linked to networks supporting terror groups.
The United States government has opened a new investigation into crypto exchange Binance. The probe investigating claims that Iranian networks used the platform to avoid sanctions. Moreover, officials are examining transactions that could have funded groups that are connected with the militants in Yemen.
Justice Department Examines Crypto Transactions Linked to Iranian Networks
The investigation is being led by the United States Department of Justice. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the authorities are investigating the movement of funds through the exchange. The emphasis is still on whether crypto transfers assisted Iranian groups in evading financial restrictions.
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The report stated that at various times over the course of several years, huge volumes of cryptocurrency passed through the platform. Furthermore, investigators are reviewing more than $1 billion in transactions that are associated with suspicious networks. These funds allegedly passed through wallets linked with organizations supported by Iran.
Meanwhile, some of the transfers reportedly made their way to networks supporting militant groups. The report particularly spoke of links with the Houthis in Yemen. Therefore, investigators are checking whether the crypto flows have supported these groups indirectly.
Documents cited by the report suggested an internal investigation when examined these transactions. However, that probe was dismantled by the company later on in 2025. As a result, U.S. officials are now reviewing whether compliance warnings have been ignored.
Reports said that about $1.7 billion in crypto transactions passed through related digital wallets. These wallets were allegedly linked to networks associated with Iranian entities. For this reason, investigators are examining whether sanctions rules were broken.
Senate and Regulators Increase Scrutiny of Binance Operations
The problem has also caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington. For instance, Senator Richard Blumenthal asked for more information on the exchange’s internal controls. His committee in the Senate opened a parallel inquiry into compliance systems and transaction monitoring.
Investigators are also investigating the role of two intermediary firms. Reports called Hexa Whale, and Blessed Trust as possible middlemen. These companies are accused of assisting in the transfer of funds that were associated with Iranian organizations via digital wallets.
The exchange, however, rejected the allegations with great force. Binance chief executive Richard Teng told that the report made inaccurate claims. He said that the company found no evidence of direct dealings with Iranian government entities.
In addition, the company threatened the newspaper with legal action. Binance demanded a retraction of the report, and called the allegations defamatory. Meanwhile, company representatives emphasized that stringent compliance systems are still in place.
The exchange has also said that it removed certain entities after inquiries from law enforcement. According to company statements, Hexa Whale was offboarded from the company in August 2025. Later, Blessed Trust was taken off the platform in January 2026.
The regulation appears within a larger regulatory history of the exchange. In 2023, Binance had to pay $4.3 billion to U.S. authorities for failures to comply in previous years. That case involved anti-money laundering violations associated with a monitoring gap.
Former Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao had previously been held accountable under the law related to those problems. Zhao served time in prison over compliance failures, before being pardoned by Donald Trump in 2025.
