US Treasury reportedly pressured Binance to fully comply with its 2023 monitoring deal after claims the exchange processed $1B tied to Iran-linked entities

The United States Treasury Department has reportedly reminded Binance that it must fully comply with the strict monitoring and compliance regime imposed under its 2023 settlement, following new scrutiny over alleged Iran-linked activity on the exchange. The reminder came in a private letter to Binance after outside reports claimed that roughly $1 billion in funds tied to Iran-linked entities passed through the platform, raising concerns among U.S. regulators and lawmakers over whether Binance is meeting its obligations under the deal. Binance reached a landmark $4.3 billion resolution with U.S. authorities in November 2023, pleading guilty to charges related to willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. sanctions laws and settling enforcement actions by the Department of Justice, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and other agencies. As part of that agreement, Binance accepted a multi‑year independent compliance monitorship—described by Treasury and FinCEN as a five‑year monitorship in official documents—that gives U.S. authorities extensive access to its books and systems and requires significant upgrades to its anti‑money laundering and sanctions controls. Treasury has warned that failure to live up to these obligations could trigger additional penalties, including activation of a suspended $150 million fine and further enforcement action. The latest Treasury letter, first reported by The Information and summarized by CoinTelegraph and other crypto outlets, underscores ongoing U.S. concerns about sanctions evasion risks in the crypto sector and Binance’s central role in that ecosystem. Lawmakers including Senator Richard Blumenthal have separately pressed FinCEN to confirm that Binance is being rigorously supervised under the monitorship, citing allegations of “dangerously lax” anti‑money laundering controls and the need to prevent U.S.-sanctioned actors, such as Iran-linked entities, from accessing global financial markets through crypto platforms. The episode highlights both the intensity of regulatory scrutiny on Binance after its 2023 plea and the broader push by U.S. authorities to use monitoring arrangements and enforcement actions to tighten compliance standards across major crypto exchanges.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

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