Binance Denies $1 Billion Iran-Linked USDT Transactions, Says No Sanctions Breach Found

• Binance denies any Iran-linked sanctions breaches.
• The exchange says no investigators were fired over compliance concerns.

Binance has strongly denied the allegations that it has processed over $1 billion in transactions connected to the Iranian entities and also dismissed the staff who raised concerns internally. These claims come from the report by Fortune on February 13, which cited anonymous sources who are familiar with the issue. 

According to the report, between March 2024 and August 2025, over 1 billion in transactions have been identified by Binance’s internal investigators, and the transactions involved USDT, which runs on the TRON blockchain. Publications also claimed that at least five investigators who raised the red flags have been dismissed from their roles. 

Binance Co-CEO strongly denies

Richard Teng, Binance’s co-CEO, has denied the accusations. He said the company did not find sanctions breaches, and no employee has been fired for raising internal warnings. Binance added that a review conducted with outside legal advisors found no breach. The change maintains whistleblower protections and follows employment laws in the country where it operates. 

Binance is still under heavy regulatory attention after its 2023 settlement, and this allegation carries extra weight. Binance says it has strengthened sanctions screening and improved transaction monitoring with a strengthening of its compliance culture. 

Blockchain research firms like Chainalysis, TRM Labs, and Elliptic have repeatedly warned that stablecoins can be used to move funds outside the banking system. U.S. authorities have already taken action against the exchanges linked to sanctioned jurisdictions. However, in this case, no enforcement action has been announced. 

Right now, the situation remains unresolved. The media report relies on anonymous sources, and Binance says that internal and external reviews cleared the company. So without regulator confirmations, the debate remains a matter of competing accounts.  

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