Treasury Seeks Iran-Linked Binance Transaction Records

Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Gene Lange recently sent Binance a letter requesting detailed records and documents tied to more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency transfers linked to Iranian entities in 2024 and 2025, citing requirements of the exchange’s 2023 plea agreement.

The letter has not been made public. It asks Binance to provide transaction data and underlying records as part of the independent monitorship that followed the company’s November 2023 guilty plea for violations of anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls.

Under that settlement, Binance agreed to pay more than $4.3 billion in penalties and accept oversight by independent monitors for three years to address weaknesses in sanctions screening and transaction monitoring.

People with knowledge of internal reviews said those reviews identified thousands of accounts accessed from Iran and traced flows estimated between $1 billion and $1.7 billion to wallets tied to Iranian-linked entities in 2024 and 2025. Some addresses were linked to Iranian state entities.

Those findings led Treasury officials to ask Binance to provide records directly so regulators can assess whether the exchange is meeting its monitorship obligations.

Binance responded that it is cooperating with regulators, has added compliance staff and technology, and welcomes feedback from Treasury as it strengthens anti-money-laundering controls. The company also denied that employees were removed for raising compliance concerns.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has requested updates from federal agencies and wrote that he is “concerned over mounting allegations of dangerously lax anti-money-laundering prevention by Binance.”

Legal analysts say a finding that Binance breached the plea agreement could lead to additional fines, stricter operating limits, or an extended term for independent oversight.

People familiar with monitorships noted that oversight arrangements typically run through defined reporting channels. Treasury’s direct request for records is part of its review under the settlement.

Regulators and lawmakers are examining the exchange’s compliance records and the company’s responses to determine whether further enforcement action is warranted.