Treasury leans on Binance after reports tied exchange to Iran-linked crypto flows

Binance is facing renewed pressure from the U.S. Treasury Department after reports alleged that more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency transactions tied to Iranian entities moved through the exchange in 2024 and 2025, according to reports.

The outreach marks the latest challenge for the world’s largest crypto exchange, less than three years after it agreed to one of the biggest settlements in U.S. financial enforcement history.

According to The Information, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Gene Lange recently sent Binance a letter reminding the company that it is required to cooperate with the compliance monitoring program established under its 2023 plea deal with U.S. authorities.

The letter reportedly asked Binance to provide “critical data records and documents” tied to the monitorship.

Treasury has not released the letter publicly.

The monitoring framework was created after Binance pleaded guilty in November 2023 to violations involving anti-money-laundering controls and sanctions laws. The company agreed to pay more than $4.3 billion in penalties and accept oversight from independent monitors for three years.

Binance said it is cooperating with regulators

“We recognize the seriousness of past issues and have dedicated substantial time, resources, and attention to addressing them,” the company said in comments cited by The Information.

A Binance spokesperson separately told The Block that the exchange “welcomes constructive feedback from the Treasury” and sees the process as part of “continuously strengthening our compliance and anti-money laundering controls.”

The latest scrutiny follows earlier reporting from The New York Times, which said Binance investigators internally identified more than 1,500 accounts accessed from Iran and traced roughly $1.7 billion in flows tied to Iranian entities, including wallets allegedly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Fortune later reported that some investigators connected to those findings had been dismissed, though Binance denied that any staff had been removed for raising compliance concerns.

The allegations have since drawn attention from lawmakers in Washington

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who serves as ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has pushed federal agencies for updates on Binance’s compliance oversight and handling of sanctions-related risks.

“I am writing with concern over mounting allegations of dangerously lax anti-money-laundering prevention by Binance,” Blumenthal wrote in one of the letters.

People familiar with corporate enforcement cases say monitorships are usually designed to operate quietly through structured reporting channels. Treasury’s decision to directly press Binance for records suggests regulators may be paying closer attention to whether the company is fully complying with the terms of the settlement.

That matters because Binance remains central to global crypto trading activity. Any escalation between the company and U.S. regulators could ripple across digital asset markets, particularly if authorities decide the exchange breached conditions of the plea agreement.

Potential consequences could range from additional fines to tighter operating restrictions or a longer compliance monitorship, according to legal analysts who follow financial crime enforcement.

The case is also unfolding against a more politically charged backdrop in Washington, where Democrats have raised questions about the Trump administration’s approach to crypto oversight and enforcement priorities.

Binance has repeatedly said that it has strengthened its anti-money-laundering systems since the 2023 settlement and reduced exposure to illicit activity on the platform.