U.S. seizes $61 million in crypto from Iranian oil sales on Binance

U.S. seizes $61 million in crypto from Iranian oil sales on Binance

Tue, September 15, 2026 at 3:53 PM GMT+3 2 min read

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The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York filed a civil forfeiture complaint Tuesday targeting roughly $61 million in cryptocurrency that prosecutors say was generated through illegal sales of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products on the black market.

Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley and FBI New York Field Office Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. announced the action. "Today we are seizing and seeking to forfeit more than $61 million of the Government of Iran's money, which otherwise would have promoted hostile military action and terrorist attacks against the U.S. and our allies," Sean S. Buckley said in a statement.

According to the complaint, two Chinese companies — Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale — used trading accounts at the cryptocurrency exchange Binance to launder proceeds from illegal Iranian oil sales, funneling funds to the Iranian government and its proxies, including Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

According to the complaint, Blessed Trust describes itself to financial services providers as a wealth management or virtual asset custodial firm, yet prosecutors contend it received and transferred oil sale proceeds and helped convert fiat currency into cryptocurrency, including through U.S.-based cryptocurrency issuers. Hexa Whale, which holds itself out publicly as a commodities brokerage, allegedly ran a parallel operation alongside Blessed Trust. Both companies count Chinese oil and petroleum sector firms among their clients, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors also identified a web of interconnected unhosted cryptocurrency addresses — grouped in the complaint under the label "Entity A" — through which more than $1.5 billion in revenue from unlawful Iranian oil transactions has flowed. According to the complaint, the money moved through those addresses ultimately reached money services businesses connected to the IRGC, other IRGC-associated wallets, and at least one Iranian cryptocurrency exchange. Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale used transactions and addresses structured to obscure the source and ownership of the funds, prosecutors alleged. The two companies also used the U.S. financial system to send or receive tens of millions of dollars as part of the scheme.

Stablecoin issuer Tether will, under the arrangement described in the complaint, destroy the tokens sitting in the flagged addresses and mint new tokens of equivalent value, which will then be handed over to U.S. government custody, according to CNBC.

Binance said in a statement that it has "zero tolerance for sanctions violations or illicit activity" and that it "did not permit any transactions with sanctioned individuals." The exchange added that it would continue cooperating with law enforcement and would investigate, restrict, or freeze accounts where sanctions or illicit-finance risk is identified.

The complaint notes that a civil forfeiture action constitutes allegations only and that no facts are proven until a court issues a judgment in favor of the United States.