Binance CEO Richard Teng rejected a Fortune report that pointed to dismissals of researchers analyzing possible violations of sanctions related to Iran.
“Irresponsible and misleading press articles based on anonymous sources (…) do an injustice to the great work of our more than 1,300 compliance employees who work tirelessly to maintain global standards,” he said on X on the night of February 13.
Fortune, as NoticiasVE explained, reported that internal Binance researchers would have detected that entities linked to Iran received more than 1 billion dollars in cryptocurrencies through that exchange between March 2024 and August 2025.
According to that medium, citing anonymous sources, at least 5 members of the Binance compliance team who analyzed these transactions were later fired.
Faced with this scenario, Teng responded by listing five points trying to reinforce Binance’s compliance narrative. However, the manager He did not clarify whether or not there were layoffs in the area mentioned by Fortune.
The five points detailed by Richard Teng, in his statement, were the following:
1. Compliance with AML regulations and sanctions
“Binance complies with and maintains global AML standards and applicable sanctions,” he said. AML refers to the global anti-money laundering standards that require identifying users, monitoring transactions and reporting suspicious activities.
Teng insisted that the company respects current regulatory frameworks.
2. Use of external monitoring tools
The CEO explained that, “like other financial institutions,” Binance employs third-party tools such as Elliptic, Chainalysis, and TRM Labs for real-time monitoring, cryptocurrency network analysis, and sanctions detection.
According to him, these platforms allow «identify and prevent illegal activities and maintain AML and sanctions standards.
Furthermore, those three companies mentioned by Teng are known for tracking cryptocurrency flows on public networks and warn about possible links to illegal activities.
Teng did not specify whether the use of these tools changed after the alleged layoffs mentioned by Fortune.
3. Proactive reports to authorities
«When we detect potential links to sanctioned activities, we take a proactive approach to reporting them to and working with law enforcement agencies,» he said.
He added that this was performed by your compliance team in the cases cited by the Fortune report.
4. International cooperation and recognition
Teng assured that Binance actively cooperates with law enforcement «around the world, sharing intelligence and supporting research.»
«These efforts are widely recognized by law enforcement agencies globally,» he said.
As an example, he noted that he received a letter of recognition from the Hong Kong Police for «our tireless efforts to investigate and combat illegal crimes.» However, the CEO of the exchange did not specify the content of the letter or the context of the investigation linked to that recognition.
5. Compliance as a continuous process
Finally, Teng stated that “compliance is a path with evolving standards and the fight against illicit crimes is a never-ending effort.”
He added that the Malicious actors use increasingly sophisticated techniques to avoid detection and that Binance will continue “our tireless efforts to combat illicit crimes and maintain global integrity.”