US prosecutors are examining whether Binance complied with the terms of the $4.3 billion criminal settlement the exchange reached in 2023. Bloomberg reported the review after Tysen Duva, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, confirmed on October 9 that officials are checking the company’s compliance.

The review comes less than three years after Binance resolved the US criminal case. It follows a series of reports and court filings tied to suspected Iranian sanctions evasion, although the Justice Department has not said which, if any, of those matters are formally part of the settlement review.

Cases drawing scrutiny

One focus is a suspected Iranian payment network described by The Wall Street Journal. According to that reporting, accounts tied to financier Babak Zanjani moved about $850 million through Binance. The Journal’s more recent investigation also described a VIP customer whose trading activity prompted questions from US and Swiss authorities. Binance said it closed the accounts involved.

A separate issue emerged in a September forfeiture case seeking $61 million. Prosecutors alleged that two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, used Binance accounts to launder proceeds from Iranian oil sales. In that filing, the broader network was said to have moved more than $1.5 billion. Binance said it had investigated the firms and removed them from the platform.

The source article also points to a broader line of inquiry into how Binance responded to suspected sanctions violations. Earlier reports had suggested prosecutors were assessing whether the exchange knowingly allowed prohibited trades. The overlap between that inquiry and the newer cases remains unclear.

What the DOJ has and has not said

So far, the department has only confirmed that it is reviewing Binance’s compliance with the 2023 deal. It has not publicly identified the incidents under review or explained whether the settlement check is centered on one matter or several.

The September forfeiture complaint did not allege wrongdoing by Binance or its employees. That distinction matters because the current review, based on the information available, is about whether the company met the obligations of its prior agreement rather than a newly announced charge.

How other US settlements have unfolded

Previous corporate cases show that the consequences of breaching US agreements can vary. In 2023, Ericsson admitted violating a deferred-prosecution agreement, pleaded guilty, paid another $206.7 million and saw the term of its compliance monitor extended.

Standard Chartered also faced further penalties in 2019, agreeing to more than $1 billion in global penalties related to historical Iran sanctions violations, along with an extended prosecution agreement. Boeing provides a different example: the DOJ said in 2024 that the company had breached its agreement, but Boeing later obtained a new non-prosecution deal and its criminal charge was dismissed in 2025.

Those comparisons are imperfect. As the source article notes, Binance pleaded guilty in 2023, while the other examples involved deferred-prosecution agreements.

Possible next steps

The available precedents suggest a range of outcomes, from tighter compliance oversight to additional fines or new criminal proceedings. The source article says a negotiated resolution appears more likely than any immediate move against Binance’s operations.

Any tougher action would likely depend on what prosecutors conclude Binance knew about the suspicious activity and how quickly it responded. For now, the confirmed next step is the DOJ’s compliance review, with no public indication yet of whether it will result in penalties or other enforcement measures.

Source: beincrypto.com