U.S. federal prosecutors are examining whether Binance knowingly allowed users to bypass sanctions imposed on Iran, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the investigation.
The probe is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and focuses on whether Binance failed to stop certain trading activity that may have violated U.S. sanctions, according to the sources, who requested anonymity.
The Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington, D.C., is also working with prosecutors on the case. One person familiar with the matter said investigators are trying to determine whether Binance permitted trading to continue despite knowing that the activity could breach sanctions laws.
A Binance spokesperson said the company has a strict approach to sanctions compliance.
“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for sanctions violations,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We fully cooperate with law enforcement, and we remain committed to rooting out and shutting down bad actors.”
The Justice Department and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s requests for comment.
The investigation adds to previous regulatory scrutiny of Binance in the U.S. In 2023, the crypto exchange pleaded guilty to banking compliance violations and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines.
Since that settlement, Binance has sought to underscore its compliance efforts and cooperation with authorities. The company said in a February blog post that more than 1,500 employees, equivalent to about 25% of its worldwide workforce, were working in compliance.
Binance also took legal action against Dow Jones in March, filing a defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. The lawsuit followed a report alleging that the Justice Department was investigating whether Iran had used Binance to transfer funds in breach of U.S. sanctions.
Richard Teng, Binance’s co-CEO, disputed the newspaper’s reporting, accusing the Wall Street Journal of providing “inaccurate reporting about our compliance program.”
In April, The New York Times reported that Binance had made it more difficult for law enforcement agencies in several countries to access user information. The report said the changes could complicate efforts to identify scammers and investigate money laundering.
Binance has consistently said it has never authorized transactions involving sanctioned individuals and has reiterated its willingness to cooperate with government authorities.
Separately, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, opened a probe in February into allegations involving roughly $1.7 billion in sanctions violations at Binance. The exchange responded that it had found no evidence supporting those allegations.
