The cryptocurrency exchange Binance acknowledged on November 4 that its platform was used by Iran to make transactions with cryptocurrencies, thus evading U.S. sanctions.
Chagri Poyraz, Binance’s global head of sanctions, acknowledged in a statement that upon learning of the situation they proceeded to freeze transfers, block accounts and follow the protocol established by the compliance department, according to the executive.
“We recently discovered that a supplier safeguards failure led to a possible nexus with entities in Iran. Ultimately, the mistakes our partners make are also our responsibility to fix,” Poyraz said.
For the executive, neither they, or any other service provider with digital assets, has managed to prevent sanctioned individuals from accessing their platforms. Nevertheless, they are working to develop “extremely robust” Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols and are investing in new technologies.
The investigation on Binance was initiated by the US
The information was released in response to the accusations made by the US Department of Justice, who determined that Binance was used by the Iranian government to evade economic sanctions imposed by the United States, with transactions that reached USD 8 billion in digital assets.
Apparently, Iran, through the local exchange Nobitex, made the transactions, three quarters of which were made using the cryptocurrency tron (TRX), according to Reuters.
The U.S. investigation sought to find possible violations of anti-money laundering regulations by Binance, one of the world’s largest exchanges.
The case was reported by Reuters last July. On that occasion, an investigation was led by the agency itself, revealing that Iranian traders were using Binance.
Iranians were able to use Binance until August 2021, when the exchange strengthened its anti-money laundering controls.
