Democratic senators step in as DOJ investigates Binance Iran links

Democratic lawmakers are stepping up scrutiny of crypto exchange Binance as US authorities examine whether the platform may have been used to move funds tied to sanctioned Iranian networks.

In a joint statement released Thursday, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Ruben Gallego said they would closely monitor a reported Justice Department investigation into potential sanctions violations involving the exchange. 

The lawmakers said their goal is to ensure that federal authorities “conduct a serious investigation into Binance and hold the company accountable for any wrongdoing.”

“Binance has an established track record of putting profits ahead of the law,” the senators said. Recent reports, they added, raise “serious concerns that the firm is again violating US sanctions laws, recklessly helping bankroll the activities of terrorist groups connected to Iran.”

The renewed scrutiny follows a report by The Wall Street Journal stating that the US Department of Justice is reviewing whether Iranian actors used Binance to bypass sanctions and move digital assets through the platform. 

Investigators are reportedly examining transactions that may have involved more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency flowing through accounts linked to networks associated with Iran.

Pressure from Congress had already been building before the latest report.

Last month, Van Hollen and Warren joined other Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee in urging Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi to examine the movement of Iran-linked funds through the exchange.

Lawmakers are particularly concerned about claims that as much as $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency may have passed through Binance to networks tied to Iranian-backed groups, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Houthis in Yemen. 

Reports cited by lawmakers suggest that compliance staff inside the exchange had previously flagged large volumes of suspicious transactions involving Iranian users.

According to those reports, two Hong Kong-based entities, Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, may have acted as intermediaries that routed funds through the platform despite US sanctions restrictions. 

The possibility that such activity occurred while Binance was operating under court-appointed monitors following its previous settlement with US authorities has raised questions in Washington about the strength of the company’s revamped compliance program.

Binance denies allegations

Binance has not publicly acknowledged the reported Justice Department investigation. 

However, the company has previously said it cooperated with authorities when suspicious activity was identified and shut down accounts connected to the transactions.

The exchange also disputes the broader allegations.

Binance says it launched internal investigations into Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust before media reports surfaced and removed both entities from the platform, offboarding Hexa Whale in August 2025 and Blessed Trust in January 2026.

According to the company, none of its accounts conducted direct transactions with Iranian entities. 

Binance argues that references to exposure in some reports relate to indirect links through third-party wallets outside the immediate control of centralised exchanges.