Federal prosecutors are examining whether Binance consciously permitted trading transactions that breached American sanctions against Iran, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Binance stated that it maintains a strict zero-tolerance stance toward sanctions infractions and works closely alongside law enforcement agencies.
This new inquiry follows the platform’s guilty plea in 2023 regarding banking compliance breaches, alongside ongoing scrutiny concerning transactions tied to Iranian entities.
American federal investigators are looking into whether Binance breached restrictions targeting Iran by failing to halt specific trading actions on the platform, as Bloomberg revealed on Tuesday, citing insiders close to the situation.
The evaluation into the compliance operations of the globe’s largest digital asset exchange is being handled by the U.S. attorney’s office located in Manhattan, noted these individuals, who chose to remain anonymous.
The criminal division of the Department of Justice situated in Washington, D.C., is partnering on the inquiry to determine if Binance allowed trades to occur despite knowing they breached sanctions regulations, one of the sources remarked.
“We uphold a zero-tolerance stance regarding sanctions breaches,” a representative for Binance stated via email. “We collaborate completely with regulatory agencies, and we remain dedicated to uncovering and dismantling malicious actors.”
Neither the Justice Department nor the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office offered immediate responses when CoinDesk reached out for a statement.
Binance has previously attracted attention from the U.S. administration. The exchange entered a guilty plea for banking compliance infractions back in 2023, agreeing at the time to remit $4.3 billion in penalties.
Since that time, the organization has tried to highlight its collaboration with regulatory and law enforcement personnel. In a February blog post, the firm noted that upwards of 1,500 personnel, representing roughly 25% of its total workforce globally, were dedicated to compliance duties.
During March, Binance launched a lawsuit for defamation against Dow Jones, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, following publication of an article asserting that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether Iran utilized the exchange to transfer capital contrary to U.S. sanctions.
At that time, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng condemned the Wall Street Journal for presenting “flawed reporting regarding our compliance framework.”
In April, the New York Times published findings that Binance created greater obstacles for law enforcement personnel across multiple nations seeking user details, complicating efforts to track fraudsters and counter money laundering.
Binance has consistently maintained that it never authorized transactions involving sanctioned individuals and has committed to sustaining its cooperation with officials.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, launched an investigation in February concerning reported sanctions breaches at Binance amounting to $1.7 billion. Binance answered those claims by stating it discovered
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/09/22/binance-probed-by-u-s-federal-prosecutors-for-sanctions-violations-bloomberg.
