Binance pushed back hard against a probe from U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, continuing to violate sanctions tied to Iran. In an open letter released Friday, Binance dismissed the claims completely, calling the reports behind the investigation false and defamatory. According to the company, the data used in the probe is outdated and misleading.
Binance already paid a massive $4.3 billion settlement last year to resolve past compliance failures. Many investors believed that the chapter was closed.
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What the Investigation Is About
The pressure is coming from the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, a powerful panel inside the Homeland Security Committee led by Senator Richard Blumenthal.
The allegation is straightforward. Lawmakers want to know whether Binance allowed transactions connected to Iranian entities, which would violate sanctions enforced by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). That agency maintains the blacklist of countries, groups, and organizations with which companies are not allowed to transact.
Sen. Blumenthal, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Investigations, wrote to Binance co-CEO Richard Teng today demanding answers about our, the WSJ, and the NYT’s reporting on potential sanctions violations and the firing of investigators: pic.twitter.com/ptjg7F6EsH
— Leo Schwartz (@leomschwartz) February 24, 2026
The inquiry is based on reports claiming two Hong Kong companies, Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, may have acted as middlemen. The theory is that these firms helped route money between Binance and groups linked to Iran.
For now, this is only an investigation, not a criminal case. But Senate probes can escalate quickly. They can trigger subpoenas, public hearings, and even referrals to the Department of Justice if serious violations are uncovered.
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Binance Calls the Claims “Demonstrably False”
Binance is not taking this lying down. In a rare move for a company arguably still under the regulatory microscope, the exchange issued a blistering response calling the allegations “unsupported by credible evidence.”
We’ve voluntarily responded to Senator Blumenthal’s inquiry which raises false and defamatory allegations reported by the WSJ. While we take such matters seriously, it’s important for us to highlight our industry-leading compliance which we’ve worked hard to build and protect our… pic.twitter.com/qOZ7h1y5nu
— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) March 6, 2026
The company stated that the specific partners mentioned, Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, had no direct accounts with Iranian entities and were promptly removed from the platform once Binance’s internal systems flagged potential indirect exposure.
This aggressive posture suggests Binance feels confident in its new compliance data. The company highlighted that its advanced monitoring tools have reduced exposure to illicit funds by 97%, down to just 0.009% of total exchange volume. This is a dramatic shift from the era of former CEO Changpeng Zhao, implying the current leadership wants to draw a hard line between the “old Binance” that pleaded guilty and the “new Binance” operating today.
That matters because a successful defense here could prove that the company’s internal reforms are actually working. Binance claims it now uses over 25 advanced analytics tools to catch bad actors before the government does.
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