Federal prosecutors are examining whether Binance permitted trading that violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is handling the inquiry, with the Justice Department’s criminal division also involved. Authorities are scrutinizing whether the exchange knowingly allowed such transactions.
The specific trades under review remain unclear, and the investigation could close without any charges being filed. Spokespeople for the Justice Department and the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.
Binance maintains a zero‑tolerance policy for sanctions violations and cooperates with law‑enforcement, the exchange said. The company previously pleaded guilty to failing to comply with U.S. banking and sanctions law, paid $4.3 billion, and is under two corporate monitorships.
This latest probe follows earlier reports that more than $1 billion moved through Binance to Iran‑linked entities, with some media outlets citing estimates as high as $1.7 billion. Binance has contested those figures, stating that at most $126.1 million reached Iran‑linked wallets and only about $24.1 million of that flowed to IRGC‑related addresses.
In a separate action, Manhattan prosecutors recently sought forfeiture of $61 million they say originated from Iranian black‑market oil sales and was laundered through Binance via two Hong Kong‑registered companies that misrepresented their business activities. Binance was not accused of wrongdoing in that case.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) expanded its authority in August to designate any foreign person operating in Iran’s digital‑asset sector, reflecting broader sanctions enforcement under Operation Economic Outcast.
