U.S. Prosecutors Investigate Binance’s Iran-Related Activity
U.S. federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance failed to stop certain trading activity connected to Iran that could have violated U.S. sanctions, according to a Sept. 22 Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.
The investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, while the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in Washington, D.C. is also involved. According to Bloomberg’s sources, prosecutors are examining whether Binance knowingly allowed trading to continue despite potential sanctions violations.
The report does not establish that Binance has been charged with a new offense or that prosecutors have reached a final conclusion. The reported inquiry is focused on the exchange's compliance efforts and whether its controls adequately prevented prohibited activity.
Binance Says It Has Zero Tolerance for Sanctions Violations
Binance rejected the suggestion that it tolerates sanctions violations and said it continues to cooperate with authorities.
“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for sanctions violations,” a Binance spokesperson said in a statement cited by the report. The company also said it fully cooperates with law enforcement and remains committed to identifying and removing bad actors.
Binance has separately published extensive information about its compliance program. In February 2026, the exchange said more than 1,500 people, or roughly 25% of its global workforce, were involved in compliance-related roles. It also said its compliance operations include specialized teams focused on sanctions, terrorist financing and financial-crime investigations.
The company has also said that its sanctions-related exposure declined significantly between January 2024 and July 2025. Binance reported that sanctions-related exposure fell from 0.284% to 0.009% of brokerage volume, a reduction of 96.8%. Those figures are Binance's own reported measurements rather than an independent finding by U.S. prosecutors.
Binance’s Previous U.S. Criminal Settlement
The latest investigation comes after Binance reached a major settlement with U.S. authorities in 2023.
On Nov. 21, 2023, Binance pleaded guilty to federal charges involving violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, failure to register as a money-transmitting business and violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The U.S. Department of Justice said Binance agreed to pay approximately $4.3 billion in penalties and forfeiture.
The settlement also included compliance requirements and an independent monitor. The DOJ said the resolution was intended to strengthen Binance’s compliance with U.S. law and its obligations to file required suspicious-activity reports.
That history is relevant to the new investigation because prosecutors are now examining Binance's compliance efforts again. However, the 2023 case and the newly reported Iran-related investigation should be treated as separate matters.
Binance Has Faced Earlier Questions Over Iran
The exchange's handling of Iran-related activity has already attracted scrutiny in 2026.
In February, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, opened an inquiry into allegations that approximately $1.7 billion had flowed to Iranian entities through Binance.
Binance rejected those allegations. In a March 6 response to Blumenthal's inquiry, the company said its investigations into the entities referenced in the inquiry were proactive responses to law-enforcement requests. Binance also said it had found no direct transactions involving Iran-based entities on its platform.
The exchange said Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, two entities discussed in the earlier reporting, were removed from the platform after internal reviews. According to Binance's March response, Hexa Whale was offboarded in August 2025 and Blessed Trust was removed in January 2026.
Binance also said it prohibits users residing in Iran from accessing the platform and has strengthened geolocation controls and measures designed to address attempts to circumvent those restrictions.
Compliance Efforts Are Now Under Fresh Scrutiny
The new investigation puts the effectiveness of Binance's sanctions controls back in focus.
Cryptocurrency exchanges face a particular challenge because blockchain transactions are generally visible and can move between multiple wallets and platforms. Binance has argued that funds can be transferred to exchange addresses without the exchange approving the incoming transaction first, meaning exchanges rely on screening, monitoring and post-transaction investigations to identify potentially problematic activity.
Binance said in its February compliance report that it uses transaction surveillance, wallet screening, sanctions monitoring and other controls to identify and mitigate potential exposure. The company also reported that direct exposure to four major Iranian crypto exchanges declined by more than 97.3% between January 2024 and January 2026, from $4.19 million to $110,000.
Those are Binance's reported figures, however, and the newly reported DOJ investigation indicates that U.S. authorities are continuing to examine whether the exchange's controls were sufficient in specific cases.
What the Investigation Means for Binance
For Binance, the investigation represents another test of the compliance framework the company has spent the past several years expanding.
The exchange has emphasized that it invests heavily in compliance infrastructure and works with law-enforcement agencies around the world. In June, Binance said it spends approximately $300 million annually on compliance and that nearly 1,500 professionals work in compliance-related functions.
At the same time, the current investigation is still developing. Bloomberg's report relies on people familiar with the matter, and neither the Justice Department nor the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office had immediately commented on the report. Reuters also reported that it could not independently verify the Bloomberg account.
The distinction is important: an investigation is not itself a finding that Binance violated sanctions.
What Happens Next
The immediate focus will likely remain on whether U.S. prosecutors find evidence that Binance knowingly permitted Iran-linked trading that should have been blocked under U.S. sanctions rules.
Binance has maintained that it does not permit transactions involving sanctioned individuals and that it cooperates with authorities. Its public responses also point to expanded compliance staffing, sanctions screening and transaction-monitoring systems.
The reported investigation will determine whether U.S. authorities believe those measures were effective in the specific activity under review. Until prosecutors announce further action, the allegations remain under investigation and no new violation by Binance has been established in court.
