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Funds belonging to or destined for Iranians have flowed through the world’s largest cryptocurrency platform, Binance, the company said on Friday, risking the possibility of incurring US-imposed sanctions.

“Earlier in the week, we discovered that Binance interacted” with “bad actors” through Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges, said Chagri Poyraz, Binance’s head of sanctions.

Some of these users “attempted to move crypto through the Binance exchange,” he wrote in a blog post on the company’s website. “As soon as we discovered this, we proceeded to freeze transfers (and) block accounts.”

When asked by AFP about the number of such accounts and the amounts involved, Binance declined to comment.

According to Reuters, about $7.8 billion has passed through Binance in connection with accounts domiciled on the busiest Iranian platform, Nobitex.

There are currently no Iranian cryptocurrency platforms under sanctions. But US-imposed restrictions prohibit a US citizen or entity from selling goods and services to Iranian residents, companies or institutions. The ban includes financial services.

Binance was founded in 2017 by a Chinese-Canadian entrepreneur, but following regulations on its activities in China, it moved its operations to Bahrain, Dubai, Paris and the Cayman Islands.

Binance’s US subsidiary is Binance.US, an entity that has come under regulatory scrutiny.

According to Reuters, citing data from the specialist company Chainalysis, Binance.US has conducted transactions with Iranian cryptocurrency platforms.

When contacted by AFP, Chainalysis declined to comment.

By validating transactions with Iranian sites, Binance also runs the risk that they may have allowed individuals or entities subject to US sanctions to move funds.