The U.S. Department of the Treasury has "privately" required Binance follow a "monitoring program" the company agreed to as part of its 2023 guilty plea amid reports that $1 billion passed through the crypto exchange to Iran-linked "entities," The Information reported Thursday.
Iran and the U.S. have been involved in an armed conflict for more than two months. The U.S. and Israel have sought to put economic pressure on Iran, according to the report.
The Information reported that the Treasury Department sent a letter "in the past few weeks" demanding Binance comply with the so-called monitoring program it previously agreed to follow after pleading guilty to charges related to sanctions and anti–money-laundering violations. The letter was sent amid reports that more than $1 billion has passed through Binance to groups connected to Iran in 2024 and 2025.
“Binance is committed to cooperating with the independent monitor and our ongoing collaboration with relevant agencies," a Binance spokesperson told The Block. "We are providing the monitor with full cooperation and transparency.”
In February, Fortune reported Binance fired investigators who had uncovered evidence of Iran-linked flows. The New York Times also reported internal investigators discovered last year that more than 1,500 accounts on the platform had been accessed from Iran and that about $1.7 billion had flowed from two Binance accounts to Iran-linked entities, including wallets tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Binance disputed the reports and denied that it fired internal investigators after they uncovered cryptocurrency had flowed to Iranian entities linked to terrorist organizations.
At the time, a Binance spokesperson told The Block that no investigator was dismissed for raising compliance concerns or reporting potential sanctions violations.
Over the past few months, Democrats have pressed the Treasury and the Justice Department to investigate Binance. President Donald Trump's decision to pardon former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has also raised ethics concerns.
According to The Information, Treasury Department Under Secretary for Terrorism Gene Lange had "reminded [Binance] of its obligation to cooperate fully with the Treasury-imposed monitoring program ... by sharing relevant information, such as critical data records and documents, in a timely manner."
The Treasury Department did not immediately respond for comment.
Binance, however, has responded to the Treasury's request, according to The Information. The company wrote that "we recognize the seriousness of past issues and have dedicated substantial time, resources, and attention to addressing them," while adding that it is "striving to increase" transparency and speed up its response time.
"We welcome constructive feedback from the Treasury and view this oversight as an important part of continuously strengthening our compliance and anti-money laundering controls," Binance told The Block.
In February, a group of Democratic Senators urged the DOJ and Treasury to look into whether Binance is violating U.S. sanctions laws. Then, in April, Sen. Richard Blumenthal requested more information about the monitors Binance was required to have in place after the exchange pleaded guilty in 2023.
Binance agreed to pay over $4 billion in penalties and also agreed to retain an "independent compliance monitor" for three years.