TL;DR:
- Binance filed a defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over a February 23 article it described as false.
- The WSJ article alleged that Binance dismantled an internal investigation into over $1 billion in flows linked to Iran.
- The exchange reported a 96.8% reduction in sanctions exposure as a percentage of total volume between January 2024 and July 2025.
Binance filed a lawsuit for defamation against The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in response to an article published on February 23, 2026, in which the outlet claimed that the exchange had dismantled an internal compliance investigation after its investigators identified more than one billion dollars in cryptocurrency flows allegedly linked to networks supporting militant groups backed by Iran. According to the WSJ, those investigators were allegedly suspended or dismissed after presenting their findings.
The company rejected that version categorically. “Binance did not dismantle any compliance investigation,” a company spokesperson stated. The exchange maintained that its internal investigation continued, identified sophisticated financial patterns across multiple jurisdictions spanning Asia, the Middle East and other regions, proceeded to close the accounts involved and reported the findings to the relevant authorities.
Binance Tears Down the WSJ Narrative
Dugan Bliss, Global Head of Litigation at Binance, noted that the lawsuit aims to defend the company’s reputation and hold the WSJ accountable for prioritizing traffic over journalistic integrity. Bliss indicated that this kind of inaccurate coverage erodes trust in the industry and generates avoidable investigations that consume resources in both the public and private sectors.
In its statement, Binance highlighted that its compliance program employs more than 1,500 people, equivalent to nearly a quarter of its global workforce, with specialists in sanctions, terrorist financing and on-chain tracing.
Another False Investigation?
The company also presented precise metrics: sanctions-related exposure fell 96.8% as a percentage of total exchange volume between January 2024 and July 2025, while direct exposure to the four main Iranian exchanges dropped 97.3% over the same period. In 2025, the platform processed more than 71,000 requests from security agencies worldwide.
On the other hand, a new report from the WSJ indicates that the United States Department of Justice may be investigating whether Iran used Binance to evade sanctions. The company responded that it had no knowledge of any such investigation and reaffirmed its willingness to cooperate with regulators and law enforcement where appropriate.
