The top Democrat on an investigative panel within the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Richard Blumenthal, has opened an inquiry into crypto giant Binance following reports of potential sanctions violations.
Reports from The New York Times, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal found that Binance compliance staff found that two Binance partners, Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, acted as middlemen for money laundering and allowed trade with Iranian government entities. According to the reports, people involved in the investigation of the Iranian transactions were disciplined or dismissed, although Binance has disputed this.
Blumenthal’s letter to Binance CEO Richard Teng comes just over two years after the crypto exchange pleaded guilty to failing to register as a money transmitting business and breaching sanctions — agreeing to pay over $4 billion in penalties.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao was also charged and served four months in prison. In October, President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao.
“Binance is a repeat offender: it has long been aware that the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies use its cryptocurrency platform as a convenient and reliable means to bypass international sanctions, anti-money laundering controls, and other banking restrictions,” Blumenthal said Tuesday.
The Connecticut Democrat asked Teng to hand over records involving “the use of Binance by individuals in Iran” and documents around firing compliance staff, among other records.
A Binance spokesperson said the exchange “detected and reported suspicious activity, and this is evidence that our controls are working,” and called reporting wrong.
“Over the last several years, Binance has undergone one of the industry’s strongest compliance transformations, which has allowed us to achieve our current regulatory milestones,” the spokesperson said in an email to The Block.
Blumenthal also raised concerns around Binance’s ties to World Liberty Financial.
“Instead of actually preventing illicit use, Binance has sought to evade accountability and influence the White House through lobbying and a financial partnership with World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the cryptocurrency firm owned by the sons of President Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff,” the senator said.
© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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