The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is moving to forfeit more than $61 million allegedly linked to illicit Iranian oil sales laundered through a cryptocurrency exchange ‘Binance’.
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Laundering, Chinese companies, and more
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan alleged that two Chinese entities, Blessed Trust Limited, posing as a wealth management firm, and Hexa Whale Trading Limited, posing as a commodities broker, used trading accounts on Binance to funnel oil revenue to Iran, its agents, and proxies. Furthermore, it was alleged that the proceeds were used to finance terrorist activities and finance military.
In the civil forfeiture claim filed Monday, federal prosecutors alleged that Iran used cryptocurrency to launder over $1.5 billion in illicit oil money.
“As alleged in the complaint filed today, the Government of Iran used a network of cryptocurrency actors in China and elsewhere to launder more than $1.5 billion in illicit oil money intended to benefit the Iranian military and the terror-designated IRGC,” Manhattan Deputy US Attorney Sean Buckley said in a statement.
“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 US and our allies,” Buckley added.
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What Binance said
Prosecutors have not accused Binance of wrongdoing, according to Bloomberg.
The company, in a statement, noted that it will cooperate with law enforcement on this matter, the report added.
“We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement on this matter, and where sanctions or illicit-finance risk is identified, we will always investigate, restrict or freeze accounts where appropriate, offboard users, and report to relevant authorities,” the firm said in the statement.
Furthermore, the company said it did not permit any transactions with people who were sanctioned.
Earlier, a group of internal investigators at Binance made a series of discoveries last year, The New York Times report, dated February 23, 2026, stated.
It further added that people in Iran had gained access to over 1,500 accounts on the cryptocurrency platform over the previous year.
According to the February NYT report, around $1.7 billion had flowed from two Binance accounts to Iranian entities with links to terrorist groups.
Meanwhile, the crypto trading firm clarified in blog posts then that it cooperated with law enforcement officials and that its compliance program was robust, Bloomberg reported.
Binance has also reportedly stated that it off-boarded Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust before the reports earlier this year.
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US-Iran conflict
The conflict in the Middle East was triggered on February 28, when joint US-Israel airstrikes targeted facilities inside Iran.
In response, Tehran retaliated by tightening its control on the key maritime corridor, the Strait of Hormuz, and launching strikes against US and Israeli assets in the region.
(with inputs from Bloomberg)
