Binance’s Richard Teng Fires Back at WSJ Over Compliance Claims

• Binance denies firing staff over sanctions cases, calls WSJ report defamatory and inaccurate.
• Compliance exposure to Iranian exchanges dropped 97% from January 2024 to January 2026.
• Binance maintains 1,500+ compliance-focused employees and robust global oversight measures.

Binance co-CEO Richard Teng has taken on the Wall Street Journal directly. He called the publication’s recent compliance report defamatory. 

Teng shared a legal letter demanding corrections and a full retraction. The letter came after what he described as a failure to acknowledge factual corrections. The dispute has put one of crypto’s biggest exchanges back in the spotlight.

What the Wall Street Journal Actually Reported

The WSJ report made claims against Binance. It alleged that executives shut down an internal probe into $1 billion in transfers linked to Iran-backed groups. 

According to the report, the probe was dismantled weeks after former CEO Changpeng Zhao received a presidential pardon. The WSJ also claimed the staff who uncovered the transfers were later fired.

A Binance spokeswoman pushed back on that specific point. She told the WSJ the employees were not let go for raising compliance concerns. 

Their exits were based on individual circumstances, she said. The investigation, she added, did continue and led to the flagged accounts being removed from the platform.

How Teng and Binance Responded to the Claims

Teng posted the firm’s legal letter publicly on X. He said the journalist had received answers to 27 detailed questions. Those answers, Teng alleged, were selectively ignored. 

He described the coverage as a distorted account built on statements from disgruntled former employees.

Binance also published a blog post defending its compliance program. The post pointed to hard numbers. Sanctions-related exposure dropped from 0.284% of total exchange volume in January 2024 to just 0.009% by July 2025. That is a 96.8% decrease. 

The firm said direct exposure to major Iranian exchanges fell by more than 97.3% over the same period.

Binance’s Compliance Program by the Numbers

Binance used the moment to detail the size of its compliance operation. As of early 2026, the firm employs 593 full-time staff within its compliance unit. 

Another 978 people work in compliance-related roles across other departments. In total, over 1,500 individuals handle compliance functions. That is roughly 25% of the company’s entire global workforce.

The firm also noted it holds licenses and registrations in 20 jurisdictions. In 2025, Binance processed more than 71,000 law enforcement requests worldwide. Its teams also supported authorities in confiscating over $131 million tied to illicit activity.

Binance called these figures proof that its system is working.

Why the Fired Employees’ Claim Is Central to the Story

The termination allegations sit at the heart of the dispute. The WSJ framed the firings as retaliation against compliance staff. Binance flatly denied that framing. 

The company said some employees left after an internal review found they had breached data protection and confidentiality guidelines.

Binance maintained that compliance investigations run independently. Executive leadership and shareholders, it said, cannot interfere. The firm stressed that its decisions follow legal procedure, not commercial interest. 

Whether regulators and oversight monitors accept that explanation remains to be seen, given Binance’s prior $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities in 2023.

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