The Wall Street Journal published a report on May 22 alleging a covert payments network linked to Iran moved roughly $850 million through Binance, with activity continuing as recently as December 2025. Binance CEO Richard Teng quickly rejected the story, calling it fundamentally inaccurate and accusing the publication of withholding material facts. The report cited an internal Binance compliance document that named Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani as the operator of the network.
What the WSJ alleges
According to the WSJ, the payments network processed approximately $850 million over roughly two years through a single account. The newspaper’s report relied on an internal Binance compliance document that identified the network as being run by Zanjani, a figure previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. The story landed just three months after a separate WSJ report in February 2026 claimed $1 billion in Iran-linked crypto transfers had moved through the exchange — allegations Teng publicly described as false and defamatory at the time.
Teng’s response
Teng stated that Binance did not permit transactions with sanctioned individuals and that the referenced transactions occurred before those individuals were formally sanctioned. He also said Binance proactively investigated the issues before the WSJ made contact, and that this material fact was provided to the newspaper but not published. In a statement, Teng reiterated that Binance maintains a zero-tolerance policy for illicit activity and operates a best-in-class compliance program, working with U.S. and global law enforcement. The exchange says sanctions-related exposure as a share of total volume fell 96.8% between January 2024 and July 2025, and direct exposure to four major Iranian crypto exchanges declined 97.3% over the same period.
A deepening legal and regulatory battle
Binance filed a lawsuit against Dow Jones, the WSJ's publisher, on March 11, 2026, escalating the public dispute into formal litigation. The lawsuit came after the February 2026 report, which Teng called defamatory. The current report adds another layer to an already tense relationship. Binance also faces continued scrutiny from U.S. regulators. The company had a landmark 2023 guilty plea to U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions violations, resulting in a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice and the appointment of an independent compliance monitor. In February 2026, the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations sent a formal letter to Teng demanding records related to Binance's role in alleged Iranian money laundering. Binance says it processed more than 71,000 law enforcement requests in 2025.
The Senate subcommittee has yet to schedule a hearing, and Binance's lawsuit against Dow Jones is pending. The next concrete step: Teng has promised to release additional evidence backing his claims that the WSJ omitted key facts. Whether that changes the narrative — or the regulatory temperature — remains an open question.
