A new Reuters report is putting fresh focus on a key risk for crypto: open blockchain networks can be used by many types of users, even those tied to sanctioned states.
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According to the report, Iran’s Nobitex exchange has processed at least $2.3 billion since 2023 on Tron (TRX-USD) and BNB Chain (BNB-USD). Nobitex is Iran’s largest crypto exchange, and Reuters states it has been used by both regular users and sanctioned Iranian groups.
The report claims that more than $2 billion moved through Tron, a blockchain tied to crypto founder Justin Sun. It also said at least $317 million moved through BNB Chain, a blockchain first built with help from Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.
According to the report, there is no sign that the Trump family knew about Nobitex’s use of Tron or BNB Chain. Still, the issue raises a clear market issue. Some of the same crypto names tied to the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial venture are also linked to blockchain networks that the report says were used to move funds linked to Iran.
Why This Matters for Crypto Investors
World Liberty Financial is a crypto firm co-founded by President Donald Trump and his family. Sun was a key backer of World Liberty in its early stages. Binance has also supported World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin, which helped give the new token more market reach.
That makes the report more than a story about Iran. It also shifts the focus back to the close links between crypto firms and politics. It may also matter for the wider crypto market, including Bitcoin (BTC-USD), Ethereum (ETH-USD), and Tether (USDT-USD), since policy risk can weigh on the whole asset class.
John Reed Stark, a former chief of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement, told Reuters the situation was a “dramatic irony.” He said, “The entities doing crypto financing through these platforms are the very ones that the president is trying to defeat in the war.”
Binance and BNB Chain said that Binance does not run or control BNB Chain. BNB Chain said it is a public, open blockchain run by a global group of validators. Tron also replied that it is a tech provider and cannot track or probe every user and every trade.
For now, the report does not point to direct wrongdoing by World Liberty, Trump, Binance, or Tron. Even so, it shows how crypto’s push into U.S. politics may come with a larger burden. The more the sector gains power in Washington, the more it may be judged by Washington’s rules on money flow, sanctions, and national security.
We used TipRanks’ Comparison Tool to compare notable blockchains. It’s a great tool for gaining an in-depth view of each stock and the broader crypto sector.
