Binance vs. WSJ: A Comedy of Errors and Compliance

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  • Binance, with a flourish of indignation, doth deny the firing of its staff over sanctions, deeming the WSJ’s tale as defamatory and as accurate as a blind man’s archery.
  • Behold! Their compliance exposure to Iranian exchanges hath plummeted by 97% from January 2024 to January 2026-a feat as miraculous as a cat learning to waltz.
  • Binance, with a grand gesture, proclaimeth 1,500+ souls dedicated to compliance, and measures of oversight so robust, they could rival the walls of Troy.

Ah, the theater of crypto! Binance’s co-CEO, the noble Richard Teng, hath taken up his quill to challenge the Wall Street Journal, declaring their compliance report as defamatory-a slander most foul, he doth proclaim.

With a legal letter in hand, Teng demandeth corrections and a retraction, for the WSJ, he saith, hath ignored the facts with the diligence of a sloth. This dispute hath thrust Binance, the crypto giant, back into the spotlight, where it doth gleam like a fool’s gold.

The WSJ’s Tale of Woe and Woe

The WSJ, in its infinite wisdom, doth accuse Binance of shutting down an internal probe into $1 billion in transfers linked to Iran-backed groups. A sum so grand, it could make a miser weep with envy.

According to their tale, the probe was dismantled with the haste of a thief fleeing the scene, mere weeks after former CEO Changpeng Zhao received a presidential pardon. And the staff who uncovered these transfers? Fired, sayeth the WSJ, with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

But lo! A Binance spokeswoman doth retort, declaring that these employees were not cast out for their compliance concerns. Nay, their exits were based on individual circumstances, she saith, with the air of a sage defending her honor.

The investigation, she addeth, did continue, and the flagged accounts were banished from the platform with the swiftness of a knight slaying a dragon.

Teng’s Retort: A Legal Missive of Woe

Teng, with a flourish, posted the firm’s legal letter on X, declaring that the journalist had received answers to 27 detailed questions. Yet, these answers were ignored with the thoroughness of a child avoiding chores.

He doth describe the coverage as a distorted account, built upon the words of disgruntled former employees-a tale as reliable as a weathervane in a hurricane.

Recently, there hath been inaccurate reporting about our compliance program. The Wall Street Journal published defamatory claims, and despite our efforts to set the record straight, the journalist failed to acknowledge any of our corrections on the allegations. We have sent the…

– Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng)

Binance, in its wisdom, also published a blog post defending its compliance program. With numbers as hard as a knight’s armor, they proclaimeth that sanctions-related exposure dropped from 0.284% of total exchange volume in January 2024 to a mere 0.009% by July 2025-a decrease of 96.8%, a feat as impressive as a jester’s juggling act.

Direct exposure to major Iranian exchanges, they addeth, fell by more than 97.3% over the same period, a decline as steep as a mountain’s cliff.

Binance’s Compliance: A Legion of Guardians

Binance, with a grand gesture, doth reveal the size of its compliance operation. As of early 2026, the firm employeth 593 full-time staff within its compliance unit, and another 978 souls in compliance-related roles across other departments. In total, over 1,500 individuals handle compliance functions-a force as vast as an army of jesters.

The firm also boasteth of licenses and registrations in 20 jurisdictions. In 2025, Binance processed more than 71,000 law enforcement requests worldwide, and supported authorities in confiscating over $131 million tied to illicit activity. A sum so grand, it could make a king blush.

Binance doth declare these figures as proof that its system is working, as undeniable as the sun’s rise.

The Fired Employees: A Tale of Woe and Retaliation

The termination allegations sit at the heart of this drama, a central plot point as crucial as the fool’s antics in a Shakespearean play. The WSJ frameth the firings as retaliation against compliance staff, a claim Binance doth deny with the fervor of a knight defending his honor.

The company saith that some employees left after an internal review found they had breached data protection and confidentiality guidelines-a transgression as grave as a jester’s insult to the king.

Binance maintaineth that compliance investigations run independently, with executive leadership and shareholders unable to interfere. Their decisions, they stress, follow legal procedure, not commercial interest-a claim as pure as a maiden’s vow.

Whether regulators and oversight monitors accept this explanation remains to be seen, given Binance’s prior $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities in 2023. A sum so vast, it could make even a dragon hoard seem modest.

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2026-02-24 20:42