Report alleges hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency transactions flowed through Binance to networks tied to the IRGC and Iran’s proxy groups
A new report by The Wall Street Journal has shed fresh light on the alleged role of cryptocurrency exchange Binance and Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani in facilitating financial flows linked to the Iranian regime and its regional proxy networks.
According to the report, as Tehran prepared for confrontation with the United States, one of the regime’s key financial operators established a covert payment network designed to keep money flowing to military-linked entities. At the center of that network, the report claims, stood Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
Internal Binance compliance reports reviewed by the newspaper reportedly show that by late December, a network operated by Zanjani had processed approximately $850 million in transactions over a two-year period, primarily through a single trading account.
The report states that several individuals connected to Zanjani — including his sister, a romantic partner, and a senior company manager — operated additional Binance accounts, all allegedly managed from a shared device, suggesting the accounts formed part of a coordinated financial network.
Among those accounts were profiles linked to a Dubai-based diamond trader and other associated entities. Counterterrorism financing experts cited in the report argued that the accounts did not appear to be used for conventional investment purposes, but rather as transfer mechanisms designed to move money rapidly through matching deposits and withdrawals.
One account reportedly associated with a Dubai-based executive processed around $21 million in transactions and allegedly received approximately $10 million from a wallet connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The newspaper reported that despite multiple internal warnings regarding suspicious activity, the main account allegedly remained active for at least 15 months and was reportedly still open as recently as January. The report states that Zanjani’s use of Binance had not previously been publicly disclosed.
Additional Financial Flows
The report also detailed other large-scale cryptocurrency transactions allegedly linked to Iranian state entities.
According to the investigation, the Central Bank of Iran transferred approximately $107 million in cryptocurrency into Binance-linked accounts last year through multiple transactions. It remains unclear whether those funds were later withdrawn from the platform.
Separate external data reportedly identified around $260 million in direct transactions during 2024 and 2025 between Binance accounts and wallets associated with financiers connected to Iranian-backed militant groups.
An additional anonymous digital wallet allegedly transferred around $218 million to a financial network linked to Iran.
These sums are separate from approximately $1.7 billion in transfers that The Wall Street Journal had previously reported in February as moving through Binance into the same broader network tied to the Iranian regime.
Drawing on compliance reports, blockchain data, foreign officials involved in tracking terrorist financing, and cryptocurrency researchers, the newspaper concluded that these transactions formed part of billions of dollars in crypto flows routed through Binance to networks connected to the IRGC during the two years preceding the current conflict between Iran and the United States.
Foreign officials cited in the report claimed that financial flows to regime-linked entities through Binance accounts have continued into this year, including transactions reportedly identified as recently as this month.
Binance Response
A spokesperson for Binance rejected the allegations, calling the information inaccurate and stating that the company did not knowingly permit transactions involving sanctioned individuals or wallets.
The spokesperson said that once problematic activity was identified, Binance took action and added that “the majority of these transactions appear unrelated to the Binance platform.”
The company declined to answer detailed questions regarding specific transaction amounts or account activities.
Binance also stated that it maintains “zero tolerance” for illegal activity and claimed that since 2024 it has upgraded its compliance systems to an advanced level that reduced exposure to sanctioned entities to “near zero.” The exchange further said it cooperates with law enforcement agencies globally.
However, according to counterterrorism financing experts cited in the report, roughly half of the $850 million in transactions linked to Zanjani — approximately $425 million — may have been used to finance Iranian military-linked operations through Binance.
The newspaper also reported that Binance’s own internal investigators had allegedly characterized the network as a money-laundering structure serving regime financing operations.
Legal and Political Implications
The report states that the United States Department of Justice is now examining Iran’s alleged use of Binance to evade sanctions.
Binance previously pleaded guilty in 2023 to violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, resulting in a $4.3 billion settlement and ongoing oversight by U.S. authorities.
The exchange’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, served four months in prison after admitting to anti-money laundering violations before reportedly receiving a pardon from Donald Trump in October.
U.S. Treasury officials have also recently expressed concerns about Binance’s compliance controls, according to the report.
The Zanjani Network
Babak Zanjani has long been known as one of the Iranian regime’s most prominent sanctions evasion operatives.
Sanctioned by the United States in 2013, he later benefited from sanctions relief linked to the 2016 nuclear agreement before reportedly being sanctioned again earlier this year.
According to the investigation, Zanjani’s cryptocurrency company, Zedcex, was registered in London and allegedly served the IRGC as a major client.
Cryptocurrency and Sanctions Evasion in Iran
The report noted that cryptocurrency usage has expanded significantly in Iran as both civilians and state-linked actors seek to bypass financial restrictions and sanctions.
It is estimated that Iranians conducted more than $10 billion in cryptocurrency transactions last year alone.
In some cases, vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz were reportedly asked to pay transit-related fees using cryptocurrency or Chinese yuan.
The investigation concludes that despite Binance’s claims of strengthened compliance systems after its 2023 legal settlement, foreign officials and internal documents continue to point to ongoing financial flows involving networks tied to the Iranian regime and the IRGC.
A spokesperson for Zanjani denied the allegations, asserting that he had “never needed or depended on any cryptocurrency exchange for money laundering or sanctions evasion.” However, the spokesperson reportedly declined to answer questions regarding the Binance-linked accounts.
