Wall Street Journal moves to dismiss Binance defamation case

The Wall Street Journal has asked a federal judge to dismiss Binance’s defamation lawsuit over three reports that accused the crypto exchange of weakening internal compliance efforts and allowing more than $1 billion in transactions linked to sanctioned Iranian entities. Summary The Wall Street Journal has asked a federal judge to dismiss Binance’s defamation lawsuit over three reports about its compliance operations. Binance claims the reports falsely implied that investigators were fired for examining transactions linked to sanctioned Iranian entities. The Journal argues Binance has failed to show actual malice and says similar reporting by other major news outlets supports its case. Judge Paul Engelmayer questioned Binance over 22 allegedly defamatory statements and took the dismissal motion under submission. According to Courthouse News Service reporter Josh Russell, attorneys for the Journal argued Wednesday that Binance’s March 2026 complaint failed to show the newspaper knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, the standard needed to establish actual malice. The dispute stems from reporting about an internal Binance investigation i...