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Roughly $850 million flowed through cryptocurrency exchange Binance as part of a covert financial network tied to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani, according to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal.

Investigators concluded that hundreds of millions of dollars may have ultimately supported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and allied proxy groups.

Internal Binance compliance reports showed the transactions occurred over a two-year period through accounts linked to Zanjani’s crypto firm, Zedcex — up until as recently as December 2025, according to the Journal.

Foreign law-enforcement officials cited in the report estimated that about half the total transaction volume — approximately $425 million — likely represented money routed to finance Iran’s military operations and regional proxy network.

The IRGC, designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization, supports militant groups across the Middle East, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Binance denied wrongdoing and disputed portions of the report.

“Binance has zero-tolerance for illicit activity on its platform,” a company spokesperson said, adding that the exchange has strengthened compliance measures and cooperates with global law enforcement agencies.

The report nevertheless raises fresh concerns about the growing use of cryptocurrency to evade international sanctions and finance hostile state actors.

Binance investigators repeatedly flagged accounts tied to Zanjani and his associates after detecting suspicious transaction patterns and links to Tehran. Compliance teams reportedly identified multiple accounts being accessed from the same devices, suggesting the existence of a coordinated sanctions-evasion network.

Despite those internal alerts, the primary account allegedly remained active for at least 15 months and was still open as recently as January.

Zanjani has long been viewed as one of Iran’s most prominent sanctions busters. Once a sheepskin trader, he amassed enormous wealth by helping Tehran move money and conduct oil transactions outside traditional banking systems during previous rounds of Western sanctions.

The Treasury Department first sanctioned Zanjani in 2013, accusing him of helping the Iranian regime move billions of dollars through foreign financial institutions. Those sanctions were later lifted under the Obama-era nuclear agreement before being reinstated earlier this year.

The Journal reported that Zedcex operated through a Dubai subsidiary and allegedly used Binance accounts to relay cryptocurrency tied to Iranian oil sales.

Some of the money reportedly originated from Chinese buyers purchasing sanctioned Iranian crude oil — a trade American officials have identified as one of Tehran’s most important revenue streams.

Foreign investigators cited in the report said cryptocurrency allowed Iranian entities to move money outside the traditional banking system while avoiding sanctions enforcement mechanisms.

The allegations come despite Binance’s 2023 guilty plea to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws. The exchange agreed to pay a record $4.3 billion settlement, while founder Changpeng Zhao later served a four-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to anti-money-laundering violations.

The Justice Department is now investigating Iran’s use of Binance following that plea agreement.

Treasury officials have also reportedly raised concerns directly with Binance executives regarding transactions involving Iran-linked entities and the effectiveness of the company’s compliance oversight.

Last week, the Treasury Department warned that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard increasingly relies on cryptocurrency networks and digital assets to move money internationally and evade sanctions.

The Trump administration has simultaneously intensified financial pressure on Tehran. Treasury officials recently announced the freezing of $344 million in Iranian-owned cryptocurrency as part of the Trump administration’s broader “Economic Fury” sanctions campaign targeting the regime’s financial infrastructure.

The Journal investigation also highlighted the broader scale of Iran’s growing reliance on crypto markets.

Blockchain analytics firms cited in the report estimated that Iranian users conducted more than $10 billion in cryptocurrency transactions last year alone, underscoring how digital assets have become a major financial lifeline for the heavily sanctioned regime.

One particularly striking allegation involved Iran’s central bank. Researchers cited in the report traced roughly $107 million in cryptocurrency transfers from wallets linked to Iran’s central bank into Binance-connected accounts earlier this year.

The report also detailed how additional wallets and accounts connected to Iranian entities allegedly moved hundreds of millions of dollars through Binance in recent years.

Binance maintained that it does not knowingly allow transactions involving sanctioned individuals or organizations and argued that many of the transfers identified by investigators occurred outside the exchange itself.

Still, the allegations are likely to intensify scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry and renew debate in Washington over whether digital asset platforms have become vulnerable channels for sanctions evasion, terrorism financing, and hostile foreign influence operations.