US Authorities Seek $61M In Crypto Tied To Alleged Iranian Oil Sales Via Binance Accounts

Federal prosecutors in New York have moved to confiscate about $61 million in cryptocurrency they describe as revenue from unsanctioned Iranian crude and petroleum sales.

The civil forfeiture complaint, filed September 14, 2026 by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), names the digital assets themselves rather than any exchange. Binance is not listed as a defendant.

According to the government’s account, two China-linked firms used trading accounts on Binance to convert and move money generated by black-market oil deals.

Blessed Trust Limited portrayed itself as a digital asset custody or wealth management business.

Hexa Whale Trading Limited presented itself as a commodities broker.

Prosecutors say both companies worked with Chinese oil and petroleum buyers and offered conversion services that turned conventional payments into crypto.

Those balances, the complaint alleges, were then forwarded to Iranian agents, proxies, money-service businesses, and an Iranian exchange.

Officials treat the $61 million as only one segment of a much larger flow. Investigators say they mapped a cluster of related unhosted wallets that received and redistributed more than $1.5 billion tied to illicit Iranian oil over time.