The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that it is seizing and seeking to forfeit $61 million in cryptocurrency alleged to stem from illicit sales of sanctioned Iranian oil.
According to a civil forfeiture complaint, the $61 million represents a portion of more than $1.5 billion in oil revenues that were moved through a network of self‑custodied wallets. The funds were allegedly routed to entities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), additional crypto addresses, and an Iranian exchange. Two China‑based firms—Blessed Trust Limited and Hexa Whale Trading Limited—are accused of using Binance trading accounts to launder the proceeds and channel them to the Iranian government and its proxies.
The action follows recent U.S. efforts to curb Iran’s use of digital assets. In July, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) froze crypto assets tied to the Iranian regime, primarily Tether stablecoins. Earlier this year, Iran launched a bitcoin‑backed insurance program for its county shipping companies.
Bitcoin’s decentralized nature makes it difficult to blacklist, allowing Iran to bypass traditional financial restrictions. Unlike centralized tokens, bitcoin has no issuer, and holdings stored without intermediaries cannot be frozen, according to the filing.
“The Government of Iran relies on black‑market sales of sanctioned crude oil to fund its military and foster terrorism in the Middle East and around the world, along with other malign efforts to develop a nuclear program and ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear payloads,” Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley said in a statement. “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.”
The complaint alleges that the illicit oil proceeds were funneled through the Chinese companies Blessed Trust Limited and Hexa Whale Trading Limited before being directed back to Iran’s government, its agents, and affiliated proxies.
In July, OFAC reported that Iran has been evading sanctions by accepting bitcoin payments from vessels traversing the Strait of Hormuz. The initiative, known as Hormuz Safe and developed by Iran’s Ministry of Economy, enables the acceptance of bitcoin and other digital assets to circumvent restrictive measures.
The Financial Times recently revealed that Iran is leveraging bitcoin to settle cross‑border transactions via domestic crypto exchanges, following guidance from the central bank encouraging citizens to take steps to support the economy.