Binance has issued a formal rebuttal to US Senator Richard Blumenthal against what the cryptocurrency exchange describes as false and defamatory claims in recent media reports that have prompted Congress to consider its sanctions compliance program.
The letter, released March 6 to the senior member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and copied to Chairman Ron Johnson, responds to Blumenthal’s February 24 correspondence.
The inquiry was largely fueled by reports from the New York Times, Fortune and the Wall Street Journal earlier this year that raised questions about the exchange’s exposure to Iranian institutions and its internal handling of compliance concerns.
Binance’s legal representatives confirm that the company follows strict “Know Your Mitar” protocols and expressly prohibits users residing or located in Iran from accessing its platform.
The exchange acknowledged that two of the entities highlighted in Senator Blumenthal’s letter, Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, had indirect exposure to wallet addresses with possible links to Iran, but stressed that neither had dealt directly with a party based in Iran.
“Binance has a rigorous compliance program that is continually being strengthened,” the company said in its response, adding that when credible risk information is discovered, it investigates, mitigates risk, deletes accounts, and reports findings to appropriate authorities.
The exchange detailed its investigation timeline for both the flagged entities. A law enforcement investigation in April 2025 prompted a comprehensive internal review that led to Hexa Whale’s removal from the platform in August 2025.
A separate investigation, prompted by law enforcement requests in the summer of 2025, resulted in the expulsion of the Blessed Trust in January 2026. Binance emphasized that its investigators continued to investigate potential risks even after complying with initial information requests from authorities.
Binance has revealed significant investment in its compliance infrastructure, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years.
The exchange currently employs more than 1,500 compliance professionals worldwide, including specialists in sanctions enforcement, terrorist financing and financial crime investigations. The company used more than 25 third-party tools for customer due diligence and transaction monitoring.
Operational metrics cited in the letter show that Binance processed more than 71,000 enforcement requests during 2025.
Over the past three years, the exchange has helped government agencies seize more than $752 million in assets, with about $579 million recovered for U.S. authorities.
Analytical data shows that the impact on wallets allegedly engaged in illegal activity has decreased from about 0.3% of the total exchange volume in January 2024 to just 0.009% in July 2025, a reduction of about 97%.
Furthermore, exposure to Iran’s four major crypto exchanges fell 97% in two years, from $4 million to $110,000.
The denial directly contradicted the Wall Street Journal’s claim that Binance’s compliance teams had identified 2,000 accounts linked to Iranian institutions on its platform.
Binance dismissed the claim as false and suggested that the number may be related to ongoing efforts to tighten controls around the use of the virtual private network, rather than any decision on Iranian account holders.
The exchange noted that identity verification remains mandatory for all customers and that using a VPN to circumvent compliance requirements violates its terms of service.
In response, attention was also paid to personnel issues.
The company has acknowledged that some employees and contractors have recently left, but it denies that any fires are the result of increased compliance concerns.
The company disclosed that an employee was terminated after an internal investigation revealed the unauthorized disclosure of internal user data, which it describes as a violation of its user privacy policy rather than retaliation.
Binance’s rejection comes at a time of increasing regulatory pressure on major crypto platforms. The exchange’s decision to release its response to Congress demonstrates transparency as it addresses compliance issues.
