Crypto billionaires tied to Trump family token and Iran sanctions-evasion network

At a glance:

• Two crypto billionaires, Justin Sun and Changpeng Zhao, are early backers of Donald Trump's World Liberty Financial, and their blockchains processed $2.3bn for Iran's Nobitex exchange.
• No allegations of Trump family knowledge; involved entities deny wrongdoing, with Tron and Binance citing their roles as technology providers.
• The scandal has triggered political backlash, including calls for investigations from U.S. senators and a watchdog group, amid ongoing legal disputes between Sun and World Liberty.

The Investigation and Its Findings

A Reuters investigation has uncovered that Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, leveraged the Tron and BNB Chain blockchains to process at least $2.3 billion in transactions since January 2023, with the majority flowing through networks tied to two of World Liberty Financial’s most prominent early backers. Justin Sun, founder of Tron, and Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance and BNB Chain, both hold significant stakes in World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture co-founded by former President Donald Trump and his family. This connection emerges despite no suggestion that the Trump family was aware of Nobitex’s activities.

The blockchain analysis, sourced from Arkham, reveals a detailed breakdown: approximately $2 billion traversed Tron, while $317 million moved through BNB Chain during the specified period. Since the escalation of conflict in Iran in February, an additional $22.6 million was recorded on BNB Chain and $550,000 via Tron, indicating a persistent flow even amid heightened scrutiny. Four independent crypto analysts affirmed the soundness of Reuters’ calculations, though investigator Rich Sanders noted the true figure could be higher due to the visibility limits of public blockchain data and Nobitex’s address-switching tactics to evade tracing.

Responses and Denials

In the wake of the report, all principal parties have issued strong denials and clarifications. The White House, through spokeswoman Anna Kelly, dismissed the investigation as “bizarre attempts to link President Trump to Iran’s banking system” that were “totally laughable.” World Liberty Financial, via a spokeswoman, stated the company “has no relationship with Nobitex and follows U.S. law,” emphasizing that it “does not own, operate, or control Tron in any way, and has no authority over transactions conducted on it.”

Tron’s representatives described the network as “a technology provider” that cannot “monitor and investigate every user and every transaction,” while Binance positioned itself as “an initial contributor and incubator” of BNB Chain rather than its operator. Nobitex similarly claimed that any illicit funds passed through the exchange “without management approval or awareness.” These statements collectively aim to distance the entities from the illicit flows, highlighting the decentralized nature of blockchain networks and the challenges of enforcing sanctions at the protocol level.

Political and Legal Repercussions

The revelations have sparked significant political and legal turbulence. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed have separately sought formal probes into World Liberty Financial’s sanctions controls, which the company asserts are “the highest standard in the industry.” Watchdog group Public Citizen issued a parallel report labeling the WLF/Binance/Iran nexus a “conflict coin” and pressing for investigations by the Treasury and Department of Justice.

Compounding the controversy is the timing of Trump’s October 2025 pardon of Changpeng Zhao, which wiped out his federal conviction for failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program. This pardon coincided with Abu Dhabi’s MGX acquiring a $2 billion stake in Binance in early 2025, with the transaction settled in World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin—a deal that Binance and Zhao’s lawyers insist had no connection to the pardon. The intertwining of commercial interests and political actions has intensified scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest and the adequacy of current regulatory frameworks.

Historical Context and Previous Reports

This is not the first instance of Nobitex’s involvement with major crypto platforms. Reuters’ 2022 reporting found that approximately $7.8 billion in crypto flowed between Nobitex and Binance from 2018 to 2022, with roughly three-quarters denominated in Tron’s native asset. Nobitex had actively encouraged clients to use Tron for trading “without endangering assets due to sanctions,” underscoring a long-standing pattern of leveraging these blockchains to circumvent restrictions.

Further evidence from blockchain analysis firms Elliptic and others indicates that the Central Bank of Iran, sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019 over alleged ties to the IRGC and Hezbollah, purchased over $500 million of Tether via Tron between November 2024 and June 2025. Of this amount, roughly $347 million was routed to Nobitex in the first half of 2025, with additional conversions and movements across BNB Chain to obscure the trail. Tether has responded by freezing multiple Nobitex wallet addresses at the request of Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, demonstrating the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between illicit actors and regulators.

Current Status and Future Outlook

As of now, the U.S. Treasury has not sanctioned Nobitex itself, a point Reuters notes without explanation. The lack of direct action contrasts with the aggressive responses from lawmakers and watchdogs, suggesting a complex interplay of geopolitical considerations and regulatory caution. Meanwhile, the personal feud between Justin Sun and World Liberty Financial has escalated, with Sun suing the firm in April over allegedly frozen assets and World Liberty countersuing in early May for defamation.

Looking ahead, the crypto industry faces mounting pressure to enhance sanctions compliance and transparency. The case highlights the vulnerabilities of decentralized networks to exploitation by sanctioned entities, even as proponents argue for the technology’s neutrality. Investors and regulators alike will be watching closely to see if this scandal prompts stricter oversight or if the involved parties can navigate the storm without significant long-term damage. The outcome could set precedents for how blockchain ecosystems interact with global financial regulations in an increasingly politicized landscape.