04/03/2026
Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, pledged to crack down on illegal activity after pleading guilty to anti-money laundering violations in 2023. But internal investigators continued to uncover troubling findings on the platform.
Last year, a team of Binance investigators discovered that people in Iran had accessed over 1,500 accounts on the platform, and that roughly $1.7 billion had flowed from two Binance accounts to Iranian-linked entities with alleged ties to terrorist organizations — a potential violation of international sanctions. One of those accounts belonged to a Binance vendor.
After reporting their findings to senior executives, at least four of the investigators were fired or suspended within weeks. The company cited "violations of company protocol" related to client data handling.
The discoveries came months before President Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had served four months in federal prison. The Trump family's crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, has since built close ties with Binance.
Binance spokesperson Rachel Conlan stated that the exchange acted on the investigators' findings, removed the flagged accounts, and notified authorities. She denied any knowing allowance of sanctionable activity and said the investigators were disciplined for unauthorized disclosure of confidential information — not for raising compliance concerns.
Since then, over half a dozen compliance officials have departed Binance, including its chief compliance officer, who has reportedly discussed leaving. Binance has said it shared findings with the IRS, FBI, and Justice Department.
Source- ShareCrypto - Cryptocurrency News Curated