The United States Department of Justice has initiated a civil forfeiture lawsuit targeting roughly $61 million in digital asset proceeds derived from unauthorized black-market transactions involving sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum items.
Government attorneys stated that these transactions were designed to support the Iranian administration and its defense divisions, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is recognized by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.
“Today’s action demonstrates our determination to deprive the Government of Iran and its terrorist proxies of the illegal money they rely on to threaten the lives and safety of the citizens of the United States and elsewhere,” said Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley.
Based on the announcement released on Monday, a pair of Chinese entities named Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale utilized trading profiles on Binance to launder the revenues from the illicit petroleum transactions and channel the money toward Tehran and its allies.
Law enforcement officials explained that Blessed Trust masqueraded as a digital asset custody provider to various financial institutions while simultaneously offering fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchange services for transactions tied to Iran. Hexa Whale reportedly offered comparable services while presenting itself as a commodities brokerage firm. Both organizations served Chinese oil and petroleum businesses as part of their customer base.
More than $1.5 billion
In addition, the DOJ pointed out that it has tracked a group of connected unhosted crypto addresses which have accumulated and transferred upwards of $1.5 billion generated from illegal Iranian oil trades. These wallets, collectively designated as “Entity A,” directed funds toward commercial entities and crypto addresses associated with the IRGC, as well as an Iranian virtual asset platform. The report noted that Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale played major roles in enabling these movements.
“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,” Buckley said.
Washington has enacted multiple punitive measures aimed at Iran’s petroleum income and maritime transport sector. During the previous month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed the Trump administration’s strategy to introduce secondary penalties focusing on Iran’s income generation channels—specifically encompassing digital assets, technology, aviation, gold, and shipping—in what government representatives have termed an “economic D-Day.”
Back in June, the U.S. placed restrictions on Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, describing it as a central actor in bypassing sanctions, funding terrorism, and executing operations connected to the IRGC.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-09-15-doj-61-million-crypto-proceeds-iranian-oil-sales-414768.
