The US Justice Department is investigating whether Iran used the cryptocurrency exchange Binance to evade American sanctions, according to a Wednesday report from The Wall Street Journal. According to the report, investigators are examining whether digital transfers moving through the platform helped channel funds linked to Iranian networks and proxy groups.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the probe follows an internal Binance investigation into suspicious transactions that allegedly identified more than $1 billion in flows connected to a network funding Iran-backed terrorist groups.
The report also said it could not determine whether US authorities are investigating Binance itself, specific users on the platform, or both.
Binance has denied directly transacting with sanctioned entities and said it worked with law enforcement while shutting down suspicious activity. The Wall Street Journal reported that Binance later concluded a smaller amount, about $24 million, had entered wallets associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The reported probe adds to broader scrutiny of cryptocurrency’s role in Iran’s sanctions-evasion system. A Reuters report in early February said US authorities were examining whether crypto platforms helped Iranian officials move money abroad, access hard currency, or procure goods outside the formal banking system.
That scrutiny intensified later in the month, with a New York Times report saying Iranians were able to access more than 1,500 Binance accounts last year and that $1.7 billion was transferred from two of them to terrorist proxies, citing company records and documents gathered by internal investigators.
Binance sued the Wall Street Journal and its parent company, Dow Jones, on Wednesday, alleging that the published report was defamatory, Reuters reported. “We stand by our reporting,” a WSJ spokesperson said.
Crypto channels also used by Iran to fuel proxy groups, pay military contracts
A report by The Jerusalem Post in February also revealed how Iran's crypto network has already helped shield the regime from Western sanctions, with experts assessing that digital assets tied to oil sales and regional laundering routes were used to support proxy groups in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen.
The broader trend extends beyond exchange activity alone. A January 2026 report said Iran’s Defense Ministry export body had openly offered cryptocurrency payments for military contracts, presenting digital assets as another tool for bypassing sanctions pressure on arms-related transactions.