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Binance responded on March 6, 2026, to a Senate subcommittee inquiry from Senator Richard Blumenthal, rejecting allegations of Iran sanctions violations.
The cryptocurrency exchange disputed media reports cited in Blumenthal’s investigation, defended its $752 million in asset seizures in 2025, and stated it bars Iranian users while maintaining compliance with 25+ monitoring tools.
A central element of the Binance Iran sanctions response involves disputing reporting from major media outlets cited in the congressional inquiry.
In its letter to the Senate subcommittee, Binance said the allegations referenced in reports from publications such as The New York Times, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal were inaccurate and lacked credible evidence.
“The recent reporting on which your inquiry relies, however, is demonstrably false, unsupported by credible evidence, and defamatory in several material respects,” — Binance legal representatives, in a letter responding to Senator Blumenthal.
The Binance Iran sanctions response also stressed that the exchange maintains strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and sanctions compliance procedures and bars individuals residing in Iran from using the platform.
According to the company, allegations that Binance knowingly allowed Iranian users on its exchange stem from misunderstandings of compliance monitoring and enforcement procedures.
Another major focus of the Binance Iran sanctions response centers on two entities cited in the congressional inquiry: Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust.
The exchange explained that both cases involved proactive investigations conducted after requests from law enforcement agencies. Binance stated that it initiated internal reviews after authorities flagged certain wallet addresses potentially connected to terrorist financing.
Following those investigations, the company removed the entities from its platform.
“After the conclusion of that investigation, on August 13, 2025, Binance offboarded Hexa Whale, thus appropriately concluding its investigation of this now-defunct trading entity,” — Binance legal representatives, in the response letter.
A similar process occurred with Blessed Trust, which Binance said was removed from the platform after a separate investigation completed in January 2026.
The Binance Iran sanctions response emphasized that these actions were taken before related media coverage emerged and that, to the company’s knowledge, no Binance account conducted direct transactions with Iran-based entities.
In defending its operations, the Binance Iran sanctions response outlined the scale of the exchange’s compliance program and the resources dedicated to preventing illicit activity.
Binance said it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in compliance infrastructure and now employs more than 1,500 specialists worldwide focused on sanctions enforcement, anti–money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and financial crime investigations.
The company said it uses more than 25 monitoring tools to conduct due diligence, screen transactions, analyze behavioral patterns, and detect suspicious activity on the platform.
“Binance has a rigorous compliance program that is consistently growing stronger,” — Binance legal representatives, in the response to the Senate inquiry.
According to the Binance Iran sanctions response, the exchange also maintains partnerships with law enforcement agencies and financial crime networks to freeze and recover illicit funds.
The company reported that in 2025 alone it processed more than 71,000 law enforcement requests and helped authorities seize more than $752 million in illicit assets globally, including nearly $579 million for U.S. government agencies.
In addition, Binance said exposure to wallets linked to illicit activity declined by nearly 97% between early 2024 and mid-2025. The exchange reported a 97.3% reduction in exposure to four major Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges during the same period.
The Binance Iran sanctions response also addressed claims that employees involved in investigations were dismissed after raising compliance concerns.
According to the company, those claims are inaccurate. Binance said most staff departures in its compliance division were voluntary resignations and represented normal turnover within a large organization.
The company confirmed that one employee was terminated after an internal investigation found unauthorized disclosure of internal user information, which Binance said violated company policy regarding user privacy.
The Binance Iran sanctions response further noted that Binance has strengthened geolocation controls and actively works to prevent users from circumventing restrictions through virtual private networks (VPNs).
Identity verification is mandatory for all customers, the company said, and any attempt to bypass eligibility requirements constitutes a violation of its terms of service.
While acknowledging that public blockchains cannot eliminate risk entirely, Binance stated that its monitoring systems are designed to detect suspicious activity quickly and mitigate potential exposure.
The Binance Iran sanctions response concluded by reiterating the exchange’s commitment to cooperating with regulators and improving compliance safeguards as the global cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to expand.
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