Binance has sued the Wall Street Journal in a defamation lawsuit because it reported on February 23 that the exchange helped Iranian-linked cryptocurrency deals.
The corporation has declared the report a falsehood, which caused negative publicity to the company and led to an unwarranted government investigation.
Binance highlighted that it had not directly dealt with entities that were under sanctions and that it had only sent money to wallets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the tune of $24 million.
Binance Responds to Sanctions Allegations
The exchange denied allegations that it poorly handled internal investigations or dismissed employees because they brought up compliance issues.
According to Binance, the inner audit was ongoing, and only after extensive research in cooperation with law enforcement was it possible to detect the money associated with Iran.
The company pointed out that exposure to sanctions reduced drastically as the exposure decreased to 0.284% of overall volume in January 2024 to 0.009% in July 2025.
Binance also closed accounts associated with suspicious activity, such as the Blessed Trust account, and affirmed that it did not find any users who had a transaction directly with a sanctioned entity.
Justice Department Investigates Iran Activity
According to a report published in the Wall Street Journal, the U.S Justice Department is looking into how one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, is being used by Iran to circumvent sanctions.
The report has described a network that uses the platform to transfer more than one billion dollars to organizations that finance Iran-supported organizations.
The law enforcement has already approached people with information about those exchanges, yet it is not clear whether Binance itself is under direct suspicion.
The investigation is ongoing, with the officials going through internal company records and employee testimony.
Senate Inquiry and Legal Victories
A different investigation was launched by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal in relation to how Binance handled dealings with Iran.
He raised the question of the magnitude of transfers and challenged the compliance practices. Binance responded that its actions were clear and consistent with the regulations.
In the meantime, the Southern District of New York dismissed all the claims against Binance under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The plaintiffs alleged that the exchange aided 64 terrorist attacks; the court discovered no aid, conspiracy, or direct participation.
The decision was termed by Binance as an outright dismissal of all accusations and a one-week period of time to revise complaints by the complainants.
Binance emphasized that over 300 million users around the world are dependent on its security procedures and compliance schemes.
The company has also been cooperative with Treasury-appointed monitors in its effort to comply with anti-sanctions activities and has also provided sought-after information on Iran-linked transactions.
The case against The Wall Street Journal exposes the fact that Binance was keen on defending its name and countering allegations it deems to be unfounded.
The investigations and the legal progress indicate the increasing questions of the cryptocurrency exchanges on their obligation to the U.S. and the international financial law.
