US prosecutors open investigation into Binance over Iran sanctions violations

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Summary · why it matters

US prosecutors are opening a new investigation into Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, over whether it allowed transactions linked to Iran to slip through its platform. The US Attorney's Office for the Manhattan district is handling the investigation, together with the criminal division of the US Department of Justice, which is examining whether Binance's compliance team was aware of some Iran-linked trading activity and whether the exchange should have blocked it. The investigation follows a civil forfeiture complaint filed on September 14 seeking more than 61 million dollars in USDT tied to alleged proceeds from Iranian oil sales. The Justice Department said two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, used Binance trading accounts to move funds from black-market Iranian oil sales, and prosecutors described a network of crypto addresses that allegedly received and distributed more than 1.5 billion dollars from illegal Iranian oil sales. However, prosecutors did not file the forfeiture action directly against Binance and did not accuse the exchange of wrongdoing in the complaint. Binance CEO Richard Teng said the company has a zero-tolerance policy toward sanctions violations and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement. The timing recalls the 2023 sanctions case in which Binance pleaded guilty and agreed to pay 4.3 billion dollars in financial penalties, while founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty separately.

Impact on assets 1

Others▼ · 1 stocks
Binance
BUSD-USD
▼ NegativeRegulationrelevance

New DOJ/Manhattan probe into Binance over Iran-linked transactions raises regulatory and legal risk for the exchange and its ecosystem.

Theme Impact 1

Off-coverage companies 3

BinancePrivate▼ Negative
Regulationrelevance

US prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into whether Binance allowed Iran-linked transactions, echoing its 2023 sanctions guilty plea.

Blessed Trust LimitedPrivate▼ Negative
Regulationrelevance

Named in the DOJ civil forfeiture complaint as using Binance accounts to move funds from black-market Iranian oil sales.

Hexa Whale Trading LimitedPrivate▼ Negative
Regulationrelevance

Named alongside Blessed Trust in the forfeiture complaint for allegedly moving Iranian oil proceeds through Binance accounts.

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