A Democrat is eyeing a crypto behemoth. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) opened an inquiry on Tuesday into Binance after Fortune and others reported that the company had fired investigators who had claimed to find more than $1 billion flow through the crypto exchange to Iranian entities.
As my colleague Leo Schwartz and I revealed earlier this month, top crypto sleuths at Binance showed the firm’s senior executives evidence of more than $1 billion flowing through the exchange to entities tied to groups like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in potential violation of U.S. sanctions. Binance pushed back on our story and said it did not violate sanctions, that it offboarded accounts linked to the transactions, and that it did not fire the employees because of their report. “Binance is committed to complying with all applicable sanctions laws and regulations in the markets where it operates,” a spokesperson said to our initial request for comment.
