**Binance CEO challenges Wall Street Journal's allegations of $1.7B cryptocurrency transfers to Iran, demanding corrections & retraction.** *In a statemen
**Binance CEO Contests Allegations in Wall Street Journal Report on Crypto Assets Transferred to Iran**
- *Richard Teng disputes defamatory claims in WSJ article*
- *Binance legal team demands corrections and retraction*
In a statement on Tuesday, Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng contested allegations made by the Wall Street Journal in an article published on Monday. The report claimed that investigators at the cryptocurrency exchange uncovered $1.7 billion in digital assets being transferred to Iranian entities, which allegedly facilitated funding for Iran-backed terror groups.
According to a letter from Binance's legal team at Withers Bergman, addressed to Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker, the report contained "defamatory claims" that required immediate corrections and a full retraction. The letter stated that the article was "false, seriously misleading to your readers, and defamatory of our client."
The WSJ article, co-authored by Patricia Kowsmann, Angus Berwick, and Ben Foldy, alleged that Binance executives fired internal investigators who reported the exchange's complicity in facilitating $1 billion in cryptocurrency transactions to a network funding Iran-backed terror groups. The New York Times published a similar report on the same day, claiming that four of the investigators had been fired or suspended and found $1.7 billion had flowed from two Binance accounts to Iranian entities with links to terrorist organizations, potentially violating global sanctions.
However, in response, Binance's legal team asserted that the WSJ reporters failed to accurately reflect the cryptocurrency exchange's responses to questions for the article, suggesting the publication had an "agenda already set." Teng encouraged his followers to refer to a Sunday blog post detailing Binance's compliance program.
In a separate development, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao spoke at a crypto forum organized by World Liberty Financial last week, a company backed by US President Donald Trump and his sons. Reports from the event indicated that Zhao announced Binance.US, the separate US entity of the cryptocurrency exchange, aimed to "do much more business in the US."
Zhao had served four months in prison following a 2023 agreement with US authorities, during which he stepped down as CEO and agreed to plead guilty to one count related to Binance's lack of an effective Anti-Money Laundering program. The exchange paid $4.3 billion as part of the deal, and Trump later issued a presidential pardon for Zhao.
**Key Notes:**
- Richard Teng disputes allegations made by the Wall Street Journal regarding investigators at Binance uncovering $1.7 billion in digital assets transferred to Iranian entities.
- The WSJ article, co-authored by Patricia Kowsmann, Angus Berwick, and Ben Foldy, alleges that Binance executives fired internal investigators who reported the exchange's complicity in facilitating cryptocurrency transactions to a network funding Iran-backed terror groups.
- Binance's legal team claims the WSJ reporters failed to accurately reflect the exchange's responses to questions for the article, suggesting the publication had an "agenda already set."
- Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao spoke at a crypto forum organized by World Liberty Financial, a company backed by US President Donald Trump and his sons. The event indicated that Binance.US aimed to "do much more business in the US."
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