Binance has formally answered a U.S. Senate inquiry over possible Iran sanctions exposure, saying the central allegations against the exchange were not backed by credible evidence. The response addressed a February 24 letter from Senator Richard Blumenthal, with the correspondence also copied to Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chair Ron Johnson.
Exchange disputes claims tied to Iranian users and account counts
The inquiry followed reporting by The Wall Street Journal that raised questions about Binance’s sanctions controls and its exposure to Iranian-linked entities. In its reply, Binance said the claims mischaracterized both its compliance framework and the progress of its operations. Eleanor Hughes said the company responded to the Senate letter voluntarily.
Binance stated that users located in Iran are barred from accessing the platform and that identity verification is required for every account. The company also pushed back on assertions involving thousands of Iranian accounts. It said investigators never confirmed the existence of 2,000 such accounts, and added that the figure was more likely tied to monitoring attempts to evade restrictions through VPN use rather than verified Iran-based users.
Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust were investigated and later offboarded
The Senate letter also referenced two trading entities, Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust. Binance said both accounts had indirect links to wallet addresses that may have had Iranian connections. At the same time, the exchange said neither account directly transacted with an Iran-based entity.
According to Binance, law enforcement first contacted the exchange in April 2025 about transactions linked to external wallets and indicated that the addresses might be connected to possible terrorist financing. Binance then opened a broader internal review, examined account activity, and provided transaction logs and identity records to authorities. The company said it removed Hexa Whale on August 13, 2025, and after a second investigation, offboarded Blessed Trust in January 2026.
Binance cites compliance headcount and law-enforcement cooperation
In the same response, Binance outlined the scale of its compliance operations. The exchange said it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in compliance infrastructure. It also reported that its compliance division now includes more than 1,500 employees worldwide, covering sanctions enforcement, financial crime investigations, and counterterrorism financing oversight.
Binance said it processed more than 71,000 law-enforcement requests in 2025. Over the past three years, the company said it helped authorities seize more than $752 million in assets. The response also addressed staff departures mentioned in the inquiry. Binance acknowledged that some compliance personnel recently left, but denied that the departures were driven by compliance concerns, adding that one employee lost their role after sharing internal user information without authorization.