Binance covering its tracks? Why the exchange could be headed for trouble

It appears that crypto exchange Binance may not have learned its lesson and allegedly continued facilitating unlawful transactions despite lawsuits, multibillion-dollar fines, and promises to end improper practices. According to Fortune, in 2025 Binance began laying off employees who may have uncovered evidence of misconduct within the company. GetBlock AML Research is publishing details of this high-profile investigation.

Back to the Future

In 2023, Binance faced criminal charges for violating anti-money laundering laws. The exchange admitted to breaching U.S. anti-money laundering regulations, customer verification requirements (the so-called Know Your Customer, or KYC, procedures), and sanctions laws.

The company agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine—one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao also admitted he failed to maintain adequate internal oversight and was later sentenced to four months in prison. As a result, he stepped down as CEO, and the exchange agreed to operate under the supervision of government-appointed monitors, pledging to enter a new phase of “regulatory maturity,” meaning stricter compliance with applicable rules.

However, there are now indications that these commitments may not have been fully upheld. According to several sources and internal documents, compliance department employees discovered that entities linked to Iran received more than $1 billion through Binance between March 2024 and August 2025. Such transactions could have conflicted with existing sanctions. The transfers were reportedly conducted using Tether—a U.S. dollar–pegged digital asset—and processed via the Tron blockchain network.

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Attempts to Cover Their Tracks

After the investigation’s findings were documented in internal reports, at least five compliance staff members began being dismissed starting in late 2025. At least three of those terminated had previously worked in law enforcement agencies in Europe and Asia. Some held senior roles and were responsible for international financial investigations, including cases involving sanctions evasion and terrorism financing.

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The precise reasons for the dismissals have not been officially disclosed. Several former employees announced their departure from Binance on LinkedIn but did not provide details. They declined to comment on the circumstances. In addition, according to sources and publicly available information, at least four other senior compliance officials have left or were reportedly forced out over the past three months.

The layoffs coincided with several political developments in the United States that may have been favorable to Binance. These include a softening of cryptocurrency regulation under President Donald Trump, as well as his October decision to pardon Changpeng Zhao for his 2023 guilty plea. The pardon followed efforts by Zhao’s team to hire lobbyists in Washington and after Binance assisted the Trump family’s crypto project, World Liberty Financial, in launching its own dollar-pegged digital currency.

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Reports of the dismissals surfaced as the company searches for a successor to Noah Perlman, a former U.S. federal prosecutor who became Chief Compliance Officer in 2023 and was widely viewed as a key public-facing appointment. According to a source familiar with the company’s internal matters, Perlman remains at Binance but plans to depart later this year. The source stated that his departure is not directly related to the investigators’ dismissals.

In an official statement, a Binance spokesperson said: “In accordance with our internal policy, we do not comment on ongoing investigations. Binance remains committed to complying with all applicable sanctions laws and regulatory requirements in the jurisdictions where we operate.” The company added that it cannot discuss specific personnel matters and that employees who violate internal policies are subject to termination.

The statement also emphasized that Binance continues to cooperate with law enforcement authorities to protect users and the broader ecosystem, and that the key specialists and teams responsible for this work remain with the company.

A New Approach to Compliance

Founded in 2017, Binance quickly became the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. However, its rapid growth was accompanied by increasing scrutiny from regulators and law enforcement agencies. Amid the U.S. Department of Justice investigation, the company launched a campaign to reshape its reputation, including actively recruiting former law enforcement officials and strengthening its compliance division.

When the Department of Justice announced its settlement with Binance in November 2023, prosecutors stated that the company and its co-founder Zhao had prioritized profits over legal compliance and facilitated billions of dollars in unlawful transactions involving users from sanctioned countries such as Iran, Cuba, and Syria. Then–Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco emphasized: “A corporate strategy that prioritizes profits over compliance is not a path to success—it is a path to federal prosecution.”

Zhao agreed to step down as CEO, and Binance wrote in a blog post that the settlement would allow the company to “turn the page on a challenging but transformative chapter of learning and growth.” Shortly thereafter, Richard Teng—a former financial regulator from Singapore and the United Arab Emirates—was appointed CEO. A year later, in November 2024, Binance announced plans to increase its compliance staff by 34%, to 645 employees by year-end, underscoring its stated commitment to strengthening oversight and regulatory adherence.