While allegations that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, transferred over $1 billion in funds to Iranian-linked wallets continue to dominate headlines, the company’s founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), has issued a statement on the matter.
According to a report by Fortune, based on internal correspondence reviewed and anonymous sources, some auditors on Binance’s compliance team allegedly found evidence suggesting that over $1 billion in funds may have been transferred to individuals and entities with Iranian ties between March 2024 and August 2025.
The report alleges that these transactions were routed through Tether (USDT) transfers conducted on the Tron network. This could constitute a potential violation of US sanctions laws.
The report also stated that some compliance officials, who allegedly brought the allegations to light through internal reports, were fired.
Binance’s former CEO, CZ, stated on social media that the news contained internal contradictions. CZ said, “I don’t know the details or who was involved, but when I read the news, it seemed contradictory.” He also suggested a different narrative was possible, commenting, “If it’s true, maybe they were fired because they couldn’t stop it?”
CZ, reminding that he is no longer actively involved at Binance, said that as the former CEO, he was sharing what he knew about the company’s operations. Zhao argued that the company screened every transaction through multiple third-party anti-money laundering (AML) tools, tools also used by law enforcement.
“If this were true, the same third-party tools wouldn’t have been able to detect it,” CZ said, arguing that negative perceptions can be created through news based on anonymous sources. “You can create a negative narrative about anything by talking to anonymous sources who are paid to spread dissatisfaction or FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt),” he stated.
*This is not investment advice.