Binance responds after U.S. seeks $61 million in crypto tied to Iranian oil sales

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York filed a civil forfeiture complaint on Sep. 14 seeking approximately $61 million in cryptocurrency linked to black-market sales of Iranian crude oil.

According to the DOJ, the funds were allegedly meant to support the Iranian government and its military, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. The U.S. government has designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

A civil forfeiture complaint is a legal action in which the government seeks to seize money or property it believes was involved in or resulted from criminal activity. It is not a criminal charge, the allegations are not proven until a court rules in the government's favor.

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How the money allegedly moved

The complaint alleges that two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, used trading accounts at Binance to launder proceeds from sanctioned Iranian oil sales. Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume.

Despite presenting themselves as a wealth management firm and a commodities broker respectively, both companies allegedly received and transferred proceeds tied to Iranian oil and provided services to convert traditional currency into cryptocurrency, according to the DOJ.