U.S. Seeks $61 Million in Crypto Tied to Alleged Iranian Oil Laundering Network

By Isaac • September 15, 2026 7:12 pm •

Federal prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of roughly $61 million in cryptocurrency they say came from black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian oil.

The civil complaint describes a much larger network. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, a group of related crypto addresses received and distributed more than $1.5 billion in alleged oil proceeds.

Prosecutors say two Hong Kong-incorporated companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, used Binance accounts to move funds from oil sold to buyers in China. The government alleges those funds were ultimately sent to Iran, its agents or proxies.

The filing says the companies presented themselves to financial and crypto service providers as wealth-management, custody or commodities businesses.