The US Department of Justice is seeking forfeiture of more than $61 million in Tether’s USDT, alleging the money came from black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian oil and was intended to help finance Iran’s government and military, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.
In a civil complaint filed Monday, the DOJ said Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, both incorporated in Hong Kong, used Binance accounts to move proceeds from oil sold to buyers in China. Prosecutors said a related address network received and distributed more than $1.5 billion, including transfers to IRGC-linked money-transfer businesses, cryptocurrency addresses and an Iranian exchange.
A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange did not allow transactions involving sanctioned individuals and would keep cooperating with law enforcement, including by investigating, restricting or freezing accounts where appropriate. The spokesperson added that the case was not filed against Binance and did not allege wrongdoing by the exchange.
The filing arrives as Washington broadens financial pressure on Tehran. It also comes as the war involving the US, Israel and Iran, which began in February, continues to disrupt energy infrastructure and oil shipments across the Middle East. Oil prices moved higher on Tuesday after attacks on Saudi infrastructure and continuing declines in vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Tether froze 61.19 million USDT across 10 Tron addresses
According to the complaint, Tether froze about 61.19 million USDT across 10 addresses on the Tron network in 2025. The filing said a seizure warrant authorizes the FBI to take custody of the assets by having Tether destroy the frozen tokens and issue replacement tokens of equal value, which would then be transferred to an FBI-controlled hardware wallet.
Cointelegraph said it contacted Tether for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.
The DOJ said the allegations in the civil forfeiture complaint have not been proven. The US government would obtain permanent ownership of the assets only if a court enters a forfeiture judgment in its favor.
The enforcement move also follows the US Treasury Department’s August expansion of its Iran sanctions framework to cover the country’s digital asset sector. That measure allows US authorities to target foreign individuals and companies operating in or supporting the sector.
At the time, the Treasury alleged that UAE-based broker Ivan Obukhov had processed more than $100 million in crypto payments since 2023 to facilitate Iranian oil sales for the IRGC’s Quds Force.
Iran conflict adds to pressure on oil markets
Reuters reported Tuesday that Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline remained offline after Friday attacks that Riyadh blamed on Iran-backed fighters in Iraq. Iran-backed Houthi forces also launched separate missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on Monday.
At the time of writing, market data showed Brent crude at about $107.59 a barrel, up 1.81%, while US West Texas Intermediate traded near $103.35, up 1.93%.