Binance rejects claims of Iranian exposure in response to US Senate inquiry

Binance has published a formal rebuttal to US Senator Richard Blumenthal, pushing back against what the crypto exchange describes as false and defamatory claims in recent media coverage that prompted a congressional inquiry into its sanctions compliance program.

The letter, issued on March 6, addressed to the ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and copied to Chairman Ron Johnson, responds to Blumenthal’s February 24 correspondence.

That inquiry drew heavily on reports published by the New York Times, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, which raised questions about the exchange’s exposure to Iranian entities and its internal handling of compliance concerns.

Binance’s legal representatives assert that the company maintains strict Know Your Customer protocols and explicitly prohibits users residing or located in Iran from accessing its platform.

The exchange acknowledged that two entities highlighted in Senator Blumenthal’s letter, including Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, had indirect exposure to wallet addresses with potential ties to Iran but emphasized that neither transacted directly with an Iran-based party.

“Binance has a rigorous compliance program that is consistently growing stronger,” the company stated in its response, adding that when credible risk information emerges, it investigates, mitigates exposure, removes accounts, and reports findings to appropriate authorities.

The exchange detailed its investigative timeline for both flagged entities. Law enforcement inquiries in April 2025 triggered a comprehensive internal review that led to Hexa Whale’s removal from the platform in August 2025.

A separate investigation prompted by summer 2025 law enforcement requests resulted in Blessed Trust’s offboarding in January 2026. Binance stressed that its investigators continued examining potential risks even after fulfilling initial information requests from authorities.

Binance disclosed significant investment in its compliance infrastructure, claiming expenditures in the hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years.

The exchange now employs more than 1,500 compliance professionals globally, including specialists in sanctions enforcement, counterterrorism financing, and financial crime investigations. The company has deployed over 25 third-party tools for customer due diligence and transaction monitoring.

Operational metrics provided in the letter indicate that Binance processed more than 71,000 law enforcement requests during 2025.

Over the past three years, the exchange has helped government agencies seize more than $752 million in assets, with nearly $579 million recovered for US authorities.

Analytics data shows that its exposure to wallets allegedly involved in illicit activity fell from nearly 0.3% of total exchange volume in January 2024 to just 0.009% by July 2025, a decline of approximately 97%.

Furthermore, exposure to the four major Iranian crypto exchanges dropped 97% over two years, from over $4 million to $110,000.

The rebuttal directly contested a Wall Street Journal claim that Binance compliance teams had identified 2,000 accounts associated with Iranian entities on its platform.

Binance called this assertion false and suggested the figure may relate to ongoing efforts to strengthen controls around virtual private network usage rather than any determination about Iranian account holders.

The exchange noted that identity verification remains mandatory for all customers and that VPN use to circumvent eligibility requirements violates its terms of service.

Personnel matters also drew attention in the response.

The company has acknowledged that some compliance staff and contractors have recently left, but it denies that any firings are the result of compliance concerns escalating.

The company disclosed that one employee was terminated following an internal investigation that found unauthorized disclosure of internal user information, characterizing this as a violation of user privacy policies rather than retaliation.

Binance’s rebuttal arrives at a time of growing regulatory pressure on large crypto platforms. The exchange’s decision to publish its response to Congress signals an effort to demonstrate transparency as it addresses compliance concerns.