Binance filed a defamation suit against Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, on the same day the newspaper published a report claiming the U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether Iran used the world’s largest crypto exchange to move funds in violation of U.S. sanctions.
In the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the company said the newspaper published “false and defamatory statements” about its compliance practices and its handling of Iran-related transactions in an article published Feb. 23.
In that article, the Journal said Binance fired staff who reported funds flowing through the exchange to sanctioned entities, allegations Binance denied. The lawsuit says Binance did not fire employees for raising compliance issues. The staff departures stem from alleged violations of internal data protection policies rather than retaliation, it said.
“Binance has categorically not dismantled any compliance investigations,” a spokesperson for the exchange told CoinDesk. “The WSJ continues to report the same falsehoods. As a result, we have filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal for defamation.”
In Wednesday’s article, the Journal said DOJ officials contacted people with knowledge of the transactions as they gathered evidence related to cryptocurrencies circulating through the platform. He cites people close to the situation. It’s unclear whether the department is looking into potential wrongdoing by Binance itself or if it’s only focusing on customers who used the exchange, he said.
Binance fights back
In a blog post published Wednesday, the exchange addressed the Journal’s February report point by point. It said the reported $1.7 billion in funds “did not originate in or end up at Binance,” instead passing through several independent intermediaries, with the vast majority of funds having “no confirmed Iranian ties.”
The newspaper had said internal investigators reported crypto transfers from Chinese customers to wallets linked to Iranian financial networks. Much of the funds, more than $1 billion, reportedly flowed through Blessed Trust, a Hong Kong-based payments company that worked with the exchange.
Binance said its investigators “gained immediate access” to the Blessed Trust account, which “has been renewed multiple times, as confirmed by system logs.”
It claims to have identified the suspicious activity through information from law enforcement and its own internal investigation, then reported the activity and removed the accounts involved.
Earlier this month, the company told a U.S. Senate investigation that it found no evidence that its platform accounts transacted directly with Iranian entities.
“The truth is that Binance’s investigation has continued and revealed a sophisticated, multi-jurisdictional pattern of financial activity spanning Asia, the Middle East and beyond,” the spokesperson said. “Binance mapped this complex activity, deleted affected user accounts, and notified law enforcement.”
The company says it “cooperates fully with law enforcement” and employs more than 1,500 people in compliance and risk roles, equivalent to approximately 25% of its global workforce.
Spotlight on legal issues
The lawsuit and investigation bring Binance back into the legal spotlight.
In 2020, she sued Forbes for making false allegations against the company. That suit was dropped several months later.
In 2023, the company pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines. Founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao also pleaded guilty to a related charge and served four months in prison before receiving a presidential pardon in October 2025.
As part of the settlement, Binance operates under the supervision of a U.S.-appointed compliance monitor. This observer also requested records relating to Iran-related transfers.
UPDATE (March 11, 1:00 p.m. UTC): Adds Binance’s statement, details of the lawsuit, and details of the Journal report beginning in the third paragraph.
