The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has revealed that crypto exchange Binance has facilitated billions of dollars more in Iran-linked crypto transfers.
The publication reports that an Iranian financier and self-proclaimed “antisanction” operator, called Babak Zanjani, used Binance to action $850 million worth of transactions in 2024 and 2025.
Binance compliance documents indicate that Zanjani did most of this from a single account, and that, despite Binance flagging the account multiple times, it was open for at least 15 months.
Zanjani’s most recent transactions appear to have been made in December, and in 2025 alone, he sent $107 million from his digital wallets to Binance accounts.
In addition to these activities, WSJ reports that foreign law enforcement agencies have found funds continuing to move throughout 2026 to Iran-linked entities via Binance accounts.
It notes that in the two years preceding the US/Israel war with Iran, Binance has facilitated billions of dollars worth of crypto transactions that were sent to entities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
WSJ also reports that last March, US Treasury officials met Binance executives to raise concerns over its compliance with its monitorship agreement that was struck in its 2023 plea deal.
According to the publication and the former compliance employees it spoke to, Binance executives tried to shield its operations from the monitors as they were worried that compliance would slow growth.
Who is Babak Zanjani?
Zanjani is a former sheepskin trader turned wealthy businessman. Iran sentenced him to death in March 2016 after he was found guilty of embezzling billions of dollars from the country’s National Oil Company.
His sentence was later commuted in 2024. One year later, he went on to secure a $750 million government contract for his conglomerate, Dotone Group, to build thousands of rail cars for Iran.
He was first blacklisted by the US in April 2013. Then, in January 2026, he, along with his two UK-registered digital asset firms, Zedcex and Zedxion, were sanctioned by the US for financially backing the Iranian regime and helping it launder funds.
The US claims Zedcex has processed over $94 billion in transactions.
Iran offers bitcoin-based protection racket for Strait of Hormuz
WSJ reports that Zedcex received funds from Iranian oil sales that were sent via banks in Turkey. It then reportedly used its Binance corporate account to transfer funds to IRGC-linked digital wallets.
It made $830 million in total transactions between 2024 and 2025.
Binance compliance reports show that the account triggered internal alerts when it was accessed from Tehran in late 2024, and went on to trigger 12 more by November 2025.
Dotone Group hasn’t been sanctioned and is behind enterprises involving logistics, ride-share vehicles, and cryptocurrency ventures, such as BitBank. Crypto analysts have noted that his business empire still mirrors sanction-evading infrastructure.
Binance says WSJ is reporting “fundamental inaccuracies.”
The publication reported in February 2026 that Binance fired internal investigators who had uncovered suspicious transactions worth $1 billion being sent to Iran-linked entities.
At the time, Binance demanded that the article be taken down to correct its “false information.” It later sued WSJ.
More recently, a Binance spokesperson told WSJ that its latest article is inaccurate, that Binance didn’t process transactions from sanctioned entities at the time, and that it carried out all appropriate steps.
It said, “It appears the overwhelming majority of these transactions have nothing to do with the Binance platform.”
WSJ noted that Binance wouldn’t answer specific questions about the transactions and the amounts at play.
In response to WSJ’s latest article, Binance CEO Richard Teng claimed today that WSJ’s reporting “continues to contain fundamental inaccuracies about the facts and Binance’s commitment to a strong compliance framework.”
The WSJ’s reporting continues to contain fundamental inaccuracies about the facts and Binance’s commitment to a strong compliance framework.
Fact: Binance did not permit any transactions with sanctioned individuals on its platform, and transactions mentioned by WSJ happened…
— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) May 22, 2026
He said, “Binance proactively investigated these issues before WSJ outreach. Binance provided these facts to WSJ and it did not print them.”
WSJ reporting led to US investigation
In March, WSJ reported that the US Department of Justice had launched an investigation into Binance following the publication’s Binance/Iran reporting.
Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal had already written to Binance demanding information on the company’s role in sanction-dodging transactions to Iranian and Russian entities.
He claimed Binance was acting as a “repeat offender” and revisiting the crimes of its past.
Binance was fined $4.3 billion in 2023 for failing to implement adequate anti-money-laundering and sanctions checks. Its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, was sentenced to four months in prison.
US Senator asks if Binance lied to Congress about Iran
As part of this settlement, Binance agreed to onboard a compliance monitor that would ensure the exchange was up to code.
Zhao was pardoned by US President Donald Trump last October. WSJ reports that Binance has enriched the Trump family with $1.2 billion following its backing of World Liberty Financial.
