At least five very high level compliance investigators have been let go by Binance after over $1 billion worth of transactions were found to be linked from Iranian companies. This may reignite the regulatory tension between the regulators and Binance. The revelation, based on internal documents and sources close to the matter, raises fresh questions about the exchange’s adherence to U.S. sanctions just two years after its historic settlement with the Department of Justice.
According to a report by Fortune, the dismissed investigators—many of whom had backgrounds in law enforcement across Europe and Asia—were let go starting in late 2025. Their termination came shortly after they internally flagged a massive volume of suspicious flows occurring between March 2024 and August 2025.
The $1 Billion Discovery
The core of the dispute centers on a pattern of transactions that compliance staff believed were actively circumventing U.S. sanctions against Iran. According to investigators, about $1 billion has likely been sent through Binance by means of Tether (USDT) on the Tron blockchain.
Selecting which network to use, may also affect the amount of fraudulent activity that you may be able to conduct over the selected network. Due to their very low transaction fees and high transaction speeds, the TRON blockchain has been frequently selected as an underlying network/rail by bad actors wishing to engage in malicious funding activities. According to investigators, the improper flows were also tied to Iranian exchanges and entities which should have been identified and blocked by the anti-money laundering screening protocols that Binance had in place. When the team raised these findings to management, expecting action to be taken, they were instead shown the door.
Based on the timeframe of these transactions, which are between early 2024 to about mid-2025, it appears Binance could be guilty of massive sanctions evasion while under the watchful eye of U.S. authorities (and by extension U.S. Courts), due to a plea agreement reached in 2023 with the United States Government.
A “Self-Contradictory” Narrative?
Binance’s leadership has pushed back aggressively against the narrative that staff were fired for doing their jobs. Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the ex CEO of Binance who is a major voice in crypto even after resigning, tweeted that the charges are “self-contradictory”.
Zhao argued that if investigators had truly identified such massive illicit flows, their primary role would have been to prevent them, implying that the failure lay in execution rather than discovery. “I don’t run Binance anymore, but as an ex-CEO, I know they run EVERY transaction through multiple third-party AML tools,” Zhao stated.
A company spokesperson declined to comment on specific personnel matters but reiterated Binance’s commitment to compliance, stating, “We cannot comment on ongoing investigations. Binance is committed to complying with all applicable sanctions laws.”
The “Tron-Tether” Connection
The allegations fit into a broader, troubling context regarding Iran’s crypto strategy. The combination of USDT and the Tron network has emerged as a critical financial lifeline for the sanctioned regime.
A few weeks ago, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Zedcex and Zedxion UK-based exchanges, which processed nearly US$1 billion worth of transactions associated with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that were flagged by Noodin investigators using a high degree of reliance on USDT on TRON.
Blockchain analytics companies such as Elliptic and TRM Labs have supported this shift. Reports have emerged about Iran’s central banks accumulation of more than US$500 million worth of USDT to propping up the weak Iranian rial, thereby establishing a second currency reserve outside the scope and jurisdiction of the United States banking.
Turmoil in the Compliance Suite
The dismissal of the investigators appears to be part of a wider shakeup within Binance’s compliance division. Reports indicate that at least four other senior compliance officials have resigned or been pushed out in recent months.
Perhaps most notably, Chief Compliance Officer Noah Perlman is reportedly planning to step down later this year. Perlman, who was brought in to steer the exchange through its post-settlement era, has presided over a turbulent period. The exodus of experienced staff with law enforcement backgrounds is alarming to industry observers, as it suggests a potential hollowing out of the very teams meant to enforce the company’s “new era” of regulatory adherence.
With the U.S. monitorship still active, these personnel changes are likely to draw intense scrutiny from the Department of Justice and the Treasury, who will want to know why the people catching the bad actors are the ones being removed.
