Astra Cai, Binance’s Global Head of Sanctions, said on Feb. 26 that the company prohibits providing services to residents in Iran and restricts access from comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions, including Cuba, North Korea, and certain regions of Ukraine. Cai made these remarks during an interview on David Lin’s YouTube podcast alongside Binance executives Noah Perlman and Richard Teng. The episode was framed as an exclusive effort to rebut recent reporting by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times regarding alleged Iran-linked flows through the platform, according to the interview.
The discussion comes amid heightened scrutiny over Binance’s compliance with international sanctions. This topic matters because it addresses concerns about whether cryptocurrency exchanges are effectively preventing illicit transactions involving sanctioned countries.
Cai said Binance prohibits providing services to residents in Iran and said the company uses KYC, AML, and sanctions controls to restrict access by users in sanctioned jurisdictions. She added that Iranian diaspora users with no ties to Iran’s economy may be treated differently if they pass compliance checks.
Binance has publicly pushed back against recent allegations by the Wall Street Journal concerning its compliance with sanctions related to Iran. The company accused the publication of making false and defamatory claims and demanded corrections as reported by CoinDesk. Between January 2024 and January 2026, Binance said it reduced direct exposure to the four largest Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges by over 97.3%, from $4.19 million to approximately $0.11 million, outperforming ten major global exchange peers. The company noted that public blockchains are permissionless and exposure cannot be reduced to zero but emphasized robust monitoring and mitigation efforts according to a post on X.
In its 2025 Anti-Scam update, Binance reported that its controls prevented $6.69 billion in potential fraud losses in 2025 with more than $12.8 million recovered through expanded human interventions such as over 36,000 in-app voice calls alongside AI-driven detection tools and user education initiatives.
Founded in 2017, Binance has grown into what it describes as the world’s largest digital asset exchange by user base and trading activity with a focus on security, education, and regulatory cooperation as core pillars supporting its global community according to Binance.
