Iran-Linked Dubai Exchange Routed $676M to Binance, Reuters Says

Of the money that reached Binance, about $540 million moved after Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority fined Shelbit in 2025 for providing unlicensed exchange services. Sanders said he notified Binance of Shelbit’s Iranian links in October 2025. The flows continued after that warning, Reuters reported.

Binance said in a statement that Shelbit never held an account. "The flows associated with Shelbit to Binance were not deemed high risk by an independent third party blockchain analytics firm," the company said. It did not identify the firm. Binance said it could not "reconcile" the sum that moved after the fine. "When users associated with Shelbit interacted with our platform, our compliance program operated as it should have: it investigated, froze the relevant accounts, and reported them to law enforcement," the company said. Binance has since told The Block it has "no evidence" for Sanders’ account and disputes the $540 million figure.

Binance pleaded guilty in 2023 to breaking U.S. anti-money-laundering rules, including processing Iranian trades, and paid $4.3 billion. The Treasury has reportedly pressed the exchange over its compliance with that settlement’s monitoring program. Binance won licenses for its main trading platform in the United Arab Emirates in December.

Dubai’s regulator ordered Shelbit on July 24 to "cease and desist immediately from all unlicensed Virtual Asset activities," according to Reuters. The Office of Foreign Assets Control "is aware of these allegations and is taking them very seriously," a Treasury spokesperson said.