Fortune reported that Binance dismissed at least five compliance investigators who had internally flagged more than $1 billion in USDT transfers to entities linked to Iran between March 2024 and August 2025. The transactions were said to have settled on the Tron network and may have raised issues under U.S. sanctions rules. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, and co-founder Yi He both responded soon after the report circulated.
CZ calls the report contradictory
CZ said on social media that he did not know the specific details or parties involved, but argued that the article was contradictory on its face. His point was simple: if the alleged flows were real, then the same third-party AML screening tools used by law enforcement also failed to detect them. In his framing, that would suggest a broader blind spot in industry monitoring systems rather than a lapse unique to Binance.
He also challenged the sourcing behind the report. CZ wrote that media outlets can rely on dissatisfied anonymous sources, or people paid to spread fear, and attach a negative narrative to almost anything. That response put the focus on the credibility and motives of the former staff cited in the story.
Yi He frames the issue as normal compliance work
Yi He said compliance staff regularly handle many kinds of cases as part of their jobs. She did not directly dispute that such reviews took place. Instead, her comments presented the dismissals as part of staffing and talent upgrades rather than retaliation against internal investigators, while stressing Binance’s compliance achievements.
Binance also told Fortune that it could not comment on ongoing investigations because of company policy. The exchange said it remains committed to complying with all applicable sanctions laws and regulations in the markets where it operates, and added that employees who violate company policy can face termination.
What Fortune says it found
According to the report, internal documents showed Binance compliance investigators identified transfers of more than $1 billion to Iran-linked entities through the platform. The reported transactions used Tether’s USDT and settled over Tron. Fortune said Binance began dismissing related investigators starting in late 2025.
The article also said at least four senior compliance executives had left or were pushed out in the past three months. Among the fired investigators, at least three reportedly had law enforcement backgrounds in Europe and Asia and had worked on sanctions evasion and counter-terror finance cases.
The report lands in a charged political context
The dispute has drawn added attention because of the political backdrop described in the source material. In October 2025, President Donald Trump granted CZ a “full and unconditional pardon.” Critics cited potential conflicts of interest, pointing to Binance’s role in helping the Trump family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial launch the USD1 stablecoin, as well as a reported $2 billion deposit into that project.
Fortune’s story appeared as those political developments overlapped with a looser U.S. posture toward crypto regulation. For now, the public record is limited to the magazine’s claims, Binance’s formal response, and statements from its top executives.