Binance CEO Richard Teng has strongly pushed back against a Wall Street Journal investigation alleging that Iran-linked networks moved roughly $850 million through the exchange over two years to fund military-connected operations. In a series of posts on X on May 22, 2026, Teng called the WSJ report “fundamentally inaccurate” and provided a point-by-point rebuttal, intensifying a high-stakes confrontation between the world’s largest crypto exchange and a leading financial publication.
The WSJ’s allegations centered on Iranian financier Babak Zanjani—who describes himself as an “antisanction” operator—and the claim that his network used a single Binance trading account to process $850 million, with activity continuing as recently as December 2025. The report cited internal Binance compliance documents that allegedly flagged repeated red flags, building on earlier coverage from February 2026 that alleged over $1 billion in transfers and staff-level concerns.
Teng’s rebuttal focused on three core points. First, all referenced transactions occurred before the individuals involved were designated on sanctions lists, meaning Binance was not in violation of sanctions law at the time. Second, Binance had already internally reviewed the matters before the WSJ made contact and had shared those findings with the publication, which chose not to include them. Third, Teng emphasized that Binance has a “zero-tolerance for illicit activity” and operates an industry-leading compliance program that works closely with U.S. and global law enforcement.
The dispute unfolds against the backdrop of Binance’s 2023 guilty plea to U.S. anti-money-laundering and sanctions violations, which resulted in a $4.3 billion settlement and the appointment of an independent compliance monitor. Since then, Binance has pointed to measurable improvements: sanctions-related exposure reportedly fell 96.8% between January 2024 and July 2025, and the exchange now has over 1,500 staff dedicated to compliance and risk functions. It processed more than 71,000 law-enforcement requests in 2025 and has repeatedly stressed its enhanced monitoring tools and identity checks that bar users from sanctioned jurisdictions like Iran.
While Teng’s defense focuses on timing and pre-investigation cooperation, the controversy underscores the broader regulatory narrative that crypto exchanges can facilitate sanctions evasion—a point that U.S. authorities have long highlighted. For BNB holders and market watchers, sustained negative headlines could create short-term volatility, but the exchange’s compliance-forward posture and existing monitorship framework may help contain longer-term structural risks.
