US seizes $61 million in crypto tied to Iranian oil sales, two Chinese firms named

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has filed a civil forfeiture complaint against approximately $61 million in cryptocurrency, alleging the funds are linked to black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum products. Prosecutors claim the proceeds were intended to support the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization. Chinese firms alleged to facilitate laundering The complaint identifies two Chinese companies—Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale—as key players in laundering the proceeds using trading accounts at Binance. Blessed Trust presents itself as a wealth management and virtual asset custody firm, while Hexa Whale operates as a commodities brokerage. Both firms allegedly acted as fiat-to-crypto on-ramps, sometimes utilizing U.S.-based issuers, and include Chinese petroleum companies among their clientele. Prosecutors say the firms transferred tens of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system. Mini dictionary: Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, both named in the complaint, are wealth management and commodity firms based in China, suspected of enabling large-scale money laundering involving crypto assets through international platforms. Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale are described as facilitators, converting fiat currency into cryptocurrency to obscure the origins of the funds and enable the transfer of proceeds connected to Iranian oil sales. Scope of the operation Investigators say the digital assets targeted represent only a portion of a much larger network. Authorities identified “Entity A,” a web of interrelated unhosted crypto addresses alleged to have handled over $1.5 billion in illicit Iranian oil proceeds. According to the complaint, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale processed much of this volume, conducting transactions intended to hide asset origin and ownership. These funds ultimately reached money services businesses, cryptocurrency wallets, and an Iranian exchange linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The scale of the network signals a significant laundering operation funneling large amounts of restricted Iranian oil revenue through the global crypto system. Company/EntityRoleAlleged FlowBlessed TrustWealth management, custodyHelped launder proceedsHexa WhaleCommodities brokerageOn-ramp for illicit fundsEntity AConnected crypto addressesDistributed over $1.5BBinance and regulatory response The developments bring new scrutiny to Binance, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, which has faced ongoing investigations regarding illicit transactions. A Reuters investigation previously reported that an unlicensed Dubai exchange central to Iranian sanctions evasion sent at least $676 million to Binance. Binance currently operates under a court-ordered monitoring program, part of its 2023 guilty plea that resulted in $4.3 billion in penalties for sanctions and anti-money-laundering violations. The U.S. government’s action against the seized cryptocurrency reflects a broader effort to clamp down on Iran’s use of digital assets to circumvent international restrictions. In June, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, along with three other Iranian platforms.