Cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Tuesday accused The Wall Street Journal of publishing “false information” in a Monday article about the exchange allegedly firing employees who were investigating funds moving through the exchange to sanctioned entities.
Richard Teng, Binance’s co-CEO, accused the WSJ of “inaccurate reporting on our compliance program” in an The letter is similar to one Binance addressed to Fortune last week for a similar article that said the exchange fired researchers who reported sanctions concerns.
Monday’s Journal article said the cryptocurrency exchange fired staff of investigators who identified $1 billion that moved to “a network that finances Iranian-backed terrorist groups.” The report claimed to have documents from Binance and statements from people familiar with Binance’s operations, saying that the crypto exchange dismantled the staff’s investigation into the $1 billion.
Binance claims staff were disciplined
The Journal article includes a statement from a Binance spokeswoman saying the researchers resigned and denied being fired or suspended for raising compliance concerns.
“Documents, foreign law enforcement officials and people familiar with Binance’s operations said the same conduct that violated sanctions and anti-money laundering laws has persisted on the exchange,” the Journal article said, referring to Binance’s 2023 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities, in which the exchange and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao admitted to violating federal money laundering statutes.
The news report also mentions $1.7 billion more in 2024 and 2025 that were transferred from Chinese clients registered on Binance to Iranian-backed groups, including Yemen’s Houthi militants. The New York Times article also published on February 23 alleges the same information.
Both influential US newspapers said the four people “fired” by Binance, who worked in compliance and market oversight roles, were fired after the crypto exchange concluded that they had not adequately escalated red flags related to suspicious trading activities and potential policy violations.
A Binance spokesperson told CoinDesk that the exchange conducted an “internal review and found no evidence of violations of applicable sanctions laws or regulations related to the transactions described.”
However, the spokesperson, who stated that no investigators were fired for raising compliance issues or potential sanctions, said suspicious activity was detected and reported, which is “evidence that our controls are working, not the other way around.”
Rachel Conlan, another spokeswoman, told the Times that an investigation is ongoing and that a full report will be sent to the US Department of Justice on February 25.
Binance said in a blog post on Sunday that its “sanctions-related exposure is minimal.”
“Recent reporting on our top-tier compliance is inaccurate at best. They present a distorted and confusing account that relies on false claims from disgruntled former employees. This incomplete and flawed view reflects a lack of understanding of the overall compliance monitoring processes for crypto exchanges,” the blog posted ahead of the Wall Street Journal report.
