The cryptocurrency exchange Binance has officially responded to the February inquiry launched by a group of 11 US senators, largely denying the facilitation of transactions with Iranian entities and the narrative of the termination of the employee.
In a letter Friday to U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Binance said the investigation into the exchange’s operations in February was based on reports that were “manifestly false, unsupported by credible evidence, and materially defamatory.”
The exchange cited reports from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Fortune that said Binance fired employees who reported that the company facilitated more than $1 billion in crypto transactions to Iran-linked companies called Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust. According to Binance, the company launched an investigation in response to requests from law enforcement agencies, which resulted in the entities being removed from the platform.
“(T)o our knowledge, no Binance account has directly transacted with an Iranian-based entity,” the exchange said.
In response to reports of alleged firings of employees who brought the investigation to the attention of executives, Binance said some had resigned and another had been terminated for leaking internal user information:
“Binance takes the privacy of its users seriously and will not tolerate employees violating that trust by sharing internal information externally. Binance also closely follows its labor and employment policies. This employment action was no different.”
The letter from 11 senators asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pamela Bondi to respond by March 13 on whether government officials plan to investigate Binance. As of Friday, neither Bessent nor Bondi had commented publicly on the matter.
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In 2023, Binance reached a settlement with US authorities and agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle violations of sanctions and anti-money laundering laws. Then-CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao resigned as part of the deal and pleaded guilty to a felony charge that later resulted in a four-month prison term.
Trump’s relationship with Binance came under scrutiny after the presidential pardon
Zhao pleaded guilty in exchange for a plea deal that would prevent him from assuming a leadership role at Binance. However, in October, US President Donald Trump issued a pardon for CZ, legally opening the door for his return to the stock market. Zhao publicly refused to return as CEO.
Before Trump announced the pardon, the administration’s ties to Binance were criticized by many lawmakers after a United Arab Emirates-based company, MGX, used the USD1 stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial to settle a $2 billion investment in the exchange. Many lawmakers called the deal corrupt because World Liberty Financial is backed by the president and his sons.
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