US DOJ says Binance was used to launder $61 million in Iranian oil-sale proceeds

New York prosecutors and the FBI say Binance was used to move money tied to Iran’s black-market oil sales to Chinese buyers, with two Chinese companies allegedly routing funds through trading accounts on the exchange. For high-risk PSPs, the point is straightforward: crypto rails can end up in the middle of sanctions-related flows even when the visible counterparties are ordinary trading entities.

1. According to the New York prosecutors, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale used Binance trading accounts to launder proceeds from Iranian oil sales on the black market, passing the money to the government of Iran, its agents, and/or intermediaries.
2. The prosecutors said those funds were then used to finance “terrorist and other activity” by the Iranian government. The case is part of a broader US enforcement push around sanctions, AML (anti-money laundering), and crypto-related evasion schemes.
3. In the structure described by the authorities, a total of $61 million was moved in cryptocurrency through Binance. The US Department of Justice is now seeking forfeiture of those funds.
4. Prosecutors also said Iran received about $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency from black-market oil sales overall. That is the number that matters for PSP risk assessment: this was not a one-off payment, but a recurring flow big enough to matter to counterparties, compliance teams, and banking partners.
5. Deputy New York Attorney General Sean Buckley said the US is arresting and seeking forfeiture of more than $61 million that, in the government’s view, would otherwise have financed hostile military action and terrorist attacks against the US and its allies.