Report: US prosecutors probe Binance over alleged Iran sanctions evasion

Federal prosecutors, including the US Department of Justice, are investigating whether Binance allowed Iran to evade sanctions through its platform, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said prosecutors were examining whether Binance Holdings Ltd., which operates the world’s largest crypto exchange, knowingly allowed Iran-linked entities to trade. The investigation follows the DOJ’s statement last week that it was seizing and seeking to forfeit $61 million in cryptocurrency allegedly derived from black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian oil. According to the DOJ, Chinese entities laundered the funds through Binance. Iran has been using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to circumvent US sanctions. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an April statement that the US had begun targeting cryptocurrency wallets linked to the Iranian regime. Bessent also said the regime’s cryptocurrency had been frozen, mostly in Tether’s USDT stablecoin. Last week, the Treasury designated BitBank, an Iranian crypto exchange, under Operation Economic Outcast, which the article describes as the Trump administration’s government-wide economic campaign against Iran and its enablers. The Financial Times reported this month that Iran was using bitcoin to settle cross-border transactions through Iranian crypto exchanges after the country’s central bank advised people to do whatever was necessary to support the economy. The article also said Iran started a bitcoin-backed insurance service earlier this year, but the supplied text does not clearly identify the service’s intended participants. Bitcoin cannot be frozen, unlike many other cryptocurrencies. Binance has no headquarters and is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. The exchange previously faced US authorities after it allegedly allowed funds linked to virtual theft and terrorism to move through its platform undetected. Binance exited the US market and agreed to pay $4.3 billion. Its chief executive and founder, Changpeng Zhao, stepped down after pleading guilty to anti-money-laundering violations and was later pardoned by President Trump.