Binance Faces Scrutiny Over Alleged Sanctions Breaches with Iranian Entities

The world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, has been at the center of controversy following reports of alleged sanctions breaches related to Iranian entities. An internal probe conducted by the exchange's compliance team identified substantial transaction flows between Binance and Iran-linked wallets, including those associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

According to reports published in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, over 1,500 accounts on the platform had been accessed from Iran, with around $1.7 billion flowing from two specific Binance accounts to Iran-linked entities. The transactions allegedly included transfers to wallets associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Blessed Trust, a Hong Kong payments firm that operated as a fiat currency partner for Binance, was also implicated in the probe. Leung Ka Kui, a director at Blessed Trust, stated that his company did not knowingly facilitate sanctions-breaching transactions or process payments to Iranian entities. The company's work with Binance was limited to routine disbursements, including invoices and payroll.

The internal probe identified a second Hong Kong entity, Hexa Whale Trading, which allegedly moved approximately $500 million in USDT stablecoin to the same Iranian network. The compliance team's findings suggested that these transaction patterns occurred throughout 2024 and into early 2025.