Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal is growing his scrutiny of Binance as new questions emerge concerning the trade’s dealing with of Iran-related transactions.
The Connecticut senator has been pursuing the problem since February, when he first launched a proper inquiry into whether or not the cryptocurrency trade violated US and worldwide sanctions involving Iran.
On Friday, April 17, Blumenthal took one other step by sending two new letters—this time aimed on the US Division of Justice (DOJ) and the Treasury Division’s Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community (FinCEN).
Congress Intensifies Binance Probe
The newest letters, which had been reported by Fortune, concentrate on a selected facet of Binance’s compliance oversight: the standing of two displays that had been put in to oversee the corporate’s compliance operations.
Based on the report, Blumenthal requested for particulars about the place the displays stand and what they’re doing to make sure Binance maintains acceptable measures to reform and strengthen its compliance program.
These monitorships started in 2024. Every monitor individually stories to the DOJ and to FinCEN, with the objective of guaranteeing Binance implements significant upgrades to its compliance framework.
Blumenthal’s correspondence displays what he described as rising concern over “mounting allegations of dangerously lax anti-money laundering prevention by Binance.”
Silence Amid Doc Requests
This renewed investigation additionally arrives after a number of retailers reported that Binance fired inside investigators who had warned high executives that greater than $1 billion had moved by means of the trade to wallets linked to Iran.
Binance has mentioned these investigators had been dismissed for causes not linked to their findings about Iranian exercise. The corporate maintains that it has a rigorous compliance program, and it has continued to reject the allegations being raised in Congress.
Along with pursuing the displays, Blumenthal beforehand requested for precise dates for when firms and people concerned opened Binance accounts, started sending funds to Iranian intermediaries, had been reported to US legislation enforcement, and when these accounts or associated exercise had been suspended or eliminated.
Blumenthal additionally demanded explanations for any delays between notification and motion, invoking Senate guidelines and setting a deadline of April 14 for Binance to offer the requested information.
As of this reporting, it has not been disclosed whether or not these paperwork had been equipped, nor has there been any additional public assertion from Binance or its executives addressing what the senator requested or whether or not they complied.
Key Numbers Revealed By The Change
Regardless of these ongoing inquiries, Binance has been constant in rejecting the allegations even earlier than Blumenthal’s most up-to-date letter. In a February 22 assertion, the trade mentioned it performed an inside assessment and located “no proof of violations of relevant sanctions legal guidelines.”
The trade additional said that for the reason that 2023 settlement, which led to former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) resigning from his place, it had upgraded its compliance processes and equipped a number of statistics meant to exhibit progress over time.
Among the many metrics Binance highlighted, the trade mentioned sanctions-related publicity—measured as a share of general buying and selling quantity—fell from 0.284% in January 2024 to 0.009% by July 2025, which it described as a discount of 96.8%.
The trade additionally reported that transaction quantity involving 4 main Iranian crypto exchanges dropped from $4.19 million in January 2024 to $1.1 million by January 2026.
On the time of writing, the trade’s native token, BNB, was buying and selling at $638, up 4% and 6% over the earlier 24 hours and 7 days, respectively.
Featured picture from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
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