U.S. Treasury Presses Binance Over Iran Crypto Use; BNB Falls

The U.S. Treasury has urged Binance to tighten compliance after intelligence and reporting showed Iranian actors continued using cryptocurrencies to move funds around sanctions. Binance’s BNB token fell to about $641.45 amid the renewed enforcement pressure.

Treasury officials have demanded additional safeguards from the exchange after findings that large cryptocurrency flows from Iran persisted despite sanctions and internet restrictions. The action is part of Operation Economic Fury, launched in April 2026 to disrupt Tehran’s financial networks.

Under the operation, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned multiple crypto wallets tied to Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tweeted that the effort would “continue to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds,” and noted enforcement actions that froze roughly $344 million in assets.

Authorities coordinated with stablecoin issuer Tether to freeze about $344 million in USDT on the Tron blockchain, according to enforcement disclosures. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated Iran generated roughly $7.78 billion in crypto activity during 2025, and that wallets tied to the IRGC received more than $3 billion of that total.

Binance pleaded guilty in 2023 to criminal violations related to sanctions and anti-money-laundering controls, agreeing to a $4.3 billion settlement and to independent compliance monitors overseen by the Department of Justice and FinCEN. Earlier this year, reports alleged more than $1 billion in Iran-linked crypto activity moved through channels related to Binance; the exchange disputed those findings and said internal staffing changes were unrelated to compliance concerns.

Binance CEO Richard Teng posted on social media: “The record must be clear. No sanctions violations were found, no investigators were fired for raising concerns, and Binance continues to meet its regulatory commitments. We’ve asked for corrections to recent reporting.”

Following coverage of the Treasury’s pressure, BNB traded lower, slipping to about $641.45 at the time of reporting. Market participants noted enforcement headlines often trigger short-term volatility and continued attention on how platforms identify and block transactions tied to sanctioned jurisdictions.

Regulators and market watchers are tracking whether U.S. authorities will expand enforcement beyond Binance to other offshore exchanges and infrastructure providers, and are focusing on stablecoin flows and the role of issuers and custodians in preventing sanctions evasion.

Neither Binance nor the Treasury provided additional public comment beyond prior statements and enforcement disclosures.