The American Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources, revealed suspicions related to financial transfers worth billions of dollars through the Binance cryptocurrency trading platform, which are believed to have been used to finance networks linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, at a time when international pressure on Iran is increasing due to its evasion of sanctions.
According to the newspaper, law enforcement officials and informed sources suggested that about $425 million was transferred through Binance to parties linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, while an analysis conducted by a company specializing in blockchain data showed that the Central Bank of Iran transferred $107 million in cryptocurrencies, through a series of transactions, to accounts on the platform during the year 2025.
The newspaper quoted foreign law enforcement officials as saying that, during the current year, they tracked financial flows through accounts on Binance towards Iranian entities linked to the regime, noting that transactions had been monitored this May.
The Wall Street Journal reported, based on reports issued by Binance, blockchain data, documents, researchers, and law enforcement officials, that the value of this money is estimated at billions of dollars, and forms part of cryptocurrency transactions that flowed through the platform to networks believed to have funded the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, during the two years preceding the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.
The newspaper added, citing internal Binance reports, that a major financier of the Iranian regime created a secret network to ensure the continued flow of funds to the Iranian military forces, noting that the platform was at the core of this financial network.
She explained that the network suspected of being managed by Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani carried out transactions worth $850 million over a period of two years, and its activities continued until December 2025.
The Wall Street Journal reported in a previous report that Zanjani, 55 years old, returned to the forefront after years spent between prison and death sentence, playing a pivotal role in Iran’s efforts to circumvent US sanctions by using financial networks and cryptocurrencies.
According to the newspaper, before his arrest, Zanjani was one of the most prominent and controversial businessmen in Iran, after he had amassed a large fortune from oil trade and secret financial transfers for the benefit of the Iranian regime during the years of Western sanctions.
The newspaper indicated that those close to Zanjani, including his sister and people associated with him, managed additional accounts that were accessed through the same devices, considering that Binance investigators saw this pattern as an indication of the possibility of evading US sanctions imposed on Iran.
On the other hand, the newspaper quoted a spokesman for the “Binance” platform as confirming that the platform did not allow any transactions involving individuals or digital wallets subject to sanctions, saying: “We took all appropriate measures as soon as the sanctions were imposed on them.”
These data come in light of mounting international scrutiny of the use of cryptocurrencies as a tool to evade sanctions, especially by countries and entities facing strict financial restrictions. As reliance on digital assets expands, major trading platforms are under increasing pressure to strengthen compliance mechanisms and monitor suspicious flows, at a time when law enforcement agencies see that these networks may constitute an alternative financial outlet to sanctioned regimes.
