The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is pursuing the seizure of more than $61 million worth of Tether’s USDT stablecoin, stating that these assets originated from illicit black-market transactions involving sanctioned Iranian petroleum and were meant to support the Iranian government and military apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
On Monday, the DOJ claimed that Blessed Trust alongside Hexa Whale, both registered in Hong Kong, leveraged Binance accounts to channel profits generated from oil shipments delivered to purchasers in China. A connected web of crypto addresses allegedly gathered and dispersed upwards of $1.5 billion, which encompassed distributions directed toward IRGC-associated money transfer entities, digital currency wallets, and an Iranian exchange platform.
A representative for Binance informed Cointelegraph that the exchange prohibits transactions involving sanctioned parties and will maintain its collaboration with regulatory authorities, which includes investigating, limiting, or locking accounts as deemed necessary. The spokesperson noted that the legal action was not directed at the exchange itself and did not accuse Binance of any misconduct.
This legal filing arrives as Washington increases financial pressure on Tehran while the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran severely impacts energy infrastructure and petroleum logistics throughout the Middle East. Crude oil values climbed on Tuesday following strikes on Saudi energy facilities and persistent declines in maritime traffic navigating the Strait of Hormuz.
Tether Freezes $61 Million in USDT
Based on the court documents, Tether locked approximately 61.19 million USDT distributed across 10 distinct Tron network addresses in 2025. The papers specify that a seizure warrant empowers the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to take possession of the funds by having Tether burn the frozen digital tokens and issue equivalent replacements to be deposited into an FBI-managed hardware wallet.
Cointelegraph reached out to Tether for a statement but had not received a reply prior to publication.
The DOJ emphasized that the accusations set forth within the civil asset forfeiture complaint remain unproven. The United States will only secure permanent ownership over the funds if a court issues a formal judgment of forfeiture in favor of the state.
This regulatory enforcement follows the US Treasury Department’s decision last August to broaden its Iran sanctions framework to encompass the nation’s digital asset industry. This provision grants US regulators the ability to penalize international entities and persons operating within or backing that ecosystem.
At that time, the Treasury asserted that United Arab Emirates-based broker Ivan Obukhov had handled over $100 million in digital currency transactions starting in 2023 to assist in moving Iranian petroleum for the Quds Force of the IRGC.
Iran Conflict Pushes Oil Prices Higher
The war among the US, Israel, and Iran, which commenced in February, continues to disrupt petroleum cargo transit across the Middle East.
Reuters stated on Tuesday that the East-West pipeline belonging to Saudi Arabia stayed shut down following Friday assaults that Riyadh attributed to Iraqi militants backed by Iran, whereas Houthi militants supported by Tehran conducted separate drone and missile strikes against Saudi territory on Monday.
At the time of writing, market statistics indicated that Brent crude changed hands at roughly $107.59 per barrel, marking a 1.81% increase, whereas US West Texas Intermediate was valued at approximately $103.35, gaining 1.93%.
Originally published at https://cointelegraph.com/news/doj-61m-usdt-forfeiture-iranian-oil?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound.
