The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed a civil complaint seeking the forfeiture of about $61 million in cryptocurrency. According to U.S. authorities, the funds came from illegal sales of sanctioned Iranian oil and petroleum products.

The Justice Department said the proceeds were intended for the Iranian government and affiliated military entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.

According to case materials, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, two Chinese companies, used trading accounts on the Binance exchange to launder proceeds from Iranian oil sales. The assets were subsequently routed to Iranian authorities, their representatives and related entities.

Investigators allege that Blessed Trust presented itself as an asset-management and digital-custody firm. In reality, authorities allege, the company converted proceeds from Iranian oil sales into cryptocurrency, including through services provided by U.S. digital-asset issuers.

Hexa Whale portrayed itself as a commodities broker but performed similar functions and coordinated with Blessed Trust and related entities, according to U.S. authorities. Clients of both companies included representatives of China’s oil sector.

The case materials also refer to a group of related non-custodial addresses under the placeholder designation Entity A. Investigators allege that more than $1.5 billion in proceeds from illegal Iranian oil sales passed through those addresses.

The funds were sent to money-transfer companies linked to the IRGC, the organization’s cryptocurrency addresses and addresses associated with an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange, according to the case materials. Blessed Trust, Hexa Whale and associated individuals allegedly used chains of transactions and wallets to conceal the assets’ origin and ownership.

Participants in the alleged scheme also used the U.S. financial system for transactions totaling tens of millions of dollars, prosecutors said. They emphasized that the civil forfeiture complaint contains allegations that must still be proven in court.

Binance and Iran-linked cryptocurrency flows

In February 2026, media reports described an investigation involving Binance and $1.7 billion in transactions linked to counterparties in Iran. The reports also named Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale.

According to those publications, as much as $1.2 billion may have flowed through Blessed Trust, while about $500 million in stablecoins may have passed through Hexa Whale. Binance rejected allegations that it had breached sanctions and said its compliance controls were effective.

Senator Richard Blumenthal subsequently requested documents from Binance following reports of potential violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran.

In March, media outlets reported that the Justice Department was investigating Binance. Citing sources, the reports said U.S. authorities had requested documents concerning Blessed Trust, among other matters. Binance said at the time that it was unaware of such an investigation but would continue cooperating with law enforcement.

In May, The Wall Street Journal reported a further $850 million in transactions through Binance that benefited Iran-linked entities. The newspaper said the transactions included activity involving the network of Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani and that some of the funds may have been used to finance Iran’s military structures.

In August, the United States imposed sanctions on Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Shelbit for assisting Iran. Binance later began restricting transactions involving Shelbit and several other platforms.

Addresses linked to Shelbit had previously sent about $676 million to Binance wallets. Binance said Shelbit did not have an account on its platform and that it had reviewed and blocked accounts linked to Shelbit users.

Source: Incrypted