Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has officially responded to a February inquiry launched by a group of 11 US senators, largely denying facilitating transactions to Iranian entities and the narrative around employees’ terminations.
In a Friday letter to US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Binance said that an inquiry launched in February into the exchange’s activities was based on reports that were “demonstrably false, unsupported by credible evidence, and defamatory in several material respects.”
The exchange referred to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Fortune, which said that Binance fired employees that reported the company had facilitated more than $1 billion in crypto transactions to entities connected to Iran, called Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust. According to Binance, the company launched an investigation in response to law enforcement inquiries, resulting in the removal of the entities from the platform.
“[T]o our knowledge, no Binance account transacted directly with an Iran-based entity,” said that exchange.
In response to the reports’ claims about the dismissal of employees who brought the investigation to the attention of executives, Binance said that some of them resigned, while another was terminated for disclosing internal user information:
“Binance takes seriously the privacy of its users and has no tolerance for 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 the 11 senators to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pamela Bondi asked for a response by March 13 as to whether the government officials intended to investigate Binance. As of Friday, neither Bessent nor Bondi had publicly commented on the matter.
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In 2023, Binance reached a settlement with US authorities, agreeing to pay $4.3 billion to resolve violations of sanctions and Anti-Money-Laundering laws. Then-CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stepped down as part of the deal and pleaded guilty to one felony charge, which later resulted in a four-month prison term.
Trump-Binance ties under scrutiny after presidential pardon
Zhao pleaded guilty and served prison time, under an agreement that he not be permitted to assume another leadership role at Binance. However, in October, US President Donald Trump issued a pardon for CZ, which legally opened the door to his return to the exchange. Zhao has publicly ruled out going back as CEO.
Before Trump announced the pardon, the administration’s ties to Binance were already under scrutiny from many lawmakers after a UAE-based company, MGX, used the USD1 stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial to settle a $2 billion investment in the exchange. Many lawmakers have labeled the deal as corruption given that World Liberty Financial is backed by the president and his sons.
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