Asger Risom
Binance has reportedly dismissed several compliance investigators after they flagged more than $1 billion in transactions tied to Iranian-linked entities, raising fresh questions about the exchange’s post-settlement oversight reforms.
Fresh turmoil is unfolding inside the world’s largest crypto exchange.
Binance has reportedly fired members of its own investigations team after they flagged potential sanctions violations tied to Iran.
According to reporting by Fortune, internal compliance staff identified more than $1 billion in transactions linked to entities connected to Iran between March 2024 and August 2025. The transfers allegedly moved through Binance using the stablecoin Tether on the Tron blockchain.
After raising their findings internally, at least five investigators were dismissed starting in late 2025, Fortune reported, citing multiple sources and internal documents. Several of those who left had prior law enforcement experience in Europe and Asia and held senior roles overseeing sanctions evasion and counter-terror financing probes.
Under scrutiny again
The reported firings come after Binance’s 2023 guilty plea to anti-money-laundering, know-your-customer and sanctions violations. The exchange agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties, while founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to implement proper oversight and later served four months in prison.
As part of the settlement, Binance accepted government monitors and pledged a new phase of “regulatory maturity.”
Robert Appleton, a former US Justice Department official who led sanctions- and Iran-related cases and is now a partner at Olshan Frome Wolosky, told Fortune: “That’s rather shocking that that happened under a monitorship with [Binance] internal investigators.”
Company response
Following publication of the report, Binance said no investigators were fired for reporting sanctions concerns.
“Following internal review, and based on the advice of qualified legal counsel, we found no evidence that Binance violated applicable sanctions laws in connection with the activity referenced,” the company said.
A spokesperson added that the firm “cannot comment on specific personnel cases” and that it remains committed to complying with sanctions laws in the jurisdictions where it operates.
Compliance shake-up
Fortune reported that at least four additional senior compliance figures have departed or been pushed out in recent months. The company is also seeking a replacement for chief compliance officer Noah Perlman, a former US prosecutor hired in 2023, though a source told Fortune his planned departure is not connected to the firings.
The developments coincide with a shifting US political landscape that has favored the crypto sector, including President Donald Trump’s rollback of certain oversight measures and his decision in October to pardon Zhao for his 2023 conviction.
Founded in 2017, Binance grew rapidly into the world’s leading crypto exchange. After years of regulatory pressure, it sought to bolster its compliance credentials by recruiting former law enforcement officials and expanding oversight teams.
The latest allegations, if substantiated, could test the durability of those reforms.
Source: Fortune
