Binance Denies WSJ Report Alleging $850M in Iran-Linked Crypto Transactions
The Journal claimed that Binance‘s internal compliance reports flagged the Zedcex account after detecting access from Tehran in late 2024. The account stayed open for more than a year, triggering over a dozen further internal alerts. Binance’s own investigators recommended the accounts be shut down and reported to authorities, but the Journal says the accounts remained active. Binance allowed Iranian funds after settlement: WSJ Binance pleaded guilty in 2023 to anti-money laundering and sanctions violations and paid a record $4.3 billion fine, pledging to overhaul its compliance systems. However, according to the Journal, the alleged Iranian fund flows resumed shortly after. In March, the Journal also reported that the Justice Department is now investigating Irans use of Binance to evade sanctions in the wake of that guilty plea. Following the report, Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against the publication, seeking damages and a jury trial. The exchange denied knowledge of any DOJ investigation, telling Cointelegraph it continues to cooperate with regulators and law enforcement. Beyond Zanjani‘s network, the Journal claimed that Iran’s central bank moved $107 million in crypto into Binance accounts in 2025, and a foreign law-enforcement agency tracked roughly $260 million in direct transactions between Binance accounts and Iranian terrorist financiers during