Federal Authorities Pursue $61M USDT Seizure Connected to Iranian Petroleum Trade Violations
Federal prosecutors are pursuing the seizure of $61 million in USDT purportedly connected to Iranian petroleum commerce. Tether immobilized the assets in 2025.
Federal prosecutors at the US Department of Justice (DOJ) are pursuing the forfeiture of over $61 million worth of Tether's USDT stablecoin, contending that the cryptocurrency originated from illegal sales of sanctioned Iranian petroleum and was designated to fund Iran's governmental operations and armed forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In a Monday filing, the DOJ contended that Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, both registered as Hong Kong-based entities, utilized accounts on Binance to transfer revenues from petroleum sold to Chinese purchasers. An interconnected network of associated addresses purportedly received and circulated over $1.5 billion, which included transfers to money-transfer operations linked to the IRGC, various cryptocurrency addresses and an Iranian-based exchange.
In a statement to Cointelegraph, a Binance spokesperson confirmed that Binance prohibited transactions involving sanctioned parties and would maintain cooperation with law enforcement agencies, including through investigating, limiting or freezing accounts when warranted. The spokesperson emphasized that the legal filing was not directed at the exchange and contained no allegations of misconduct by Binance.
This legal action arrives as Washington intensifies economic pressure on Tehran and the ongoing US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues to impact energy infrastructure and petroleum shipments throughout the Middle East. Petroleum prices experienced an uptick on Tuesday in the wake of attacks targeting Saudi infrastructure and ongoing decreases in vessel traffic navigating through the Strait of Hormuz.
Tether freezes $61 million in USDT
The complaint states that Tether immobilized approximately 61.19 million USDT distributed across 10 addresses on the Tron network in 2025. The filing indicated that a seizure warrant empowers the FBI to assume custody of the digital assets by directing Tether to destroy the immobilized tokens and create replacement tokens of equivalent value to be moved to a hardware wallet under FBI control.
Cointelegraph reached out to Tether requesting comment but had not obtained a response at the time of publication.
The DOJ clarified that the accusations detailed in the civil forfeiture complaint remain unproven. The US government would secure permanent ownership of the digital assets only upon a court issuing a forfeiture judgment favorable to the government.
This enforcement measure also comes on the heels of the US Treasury's August broadening of its Iran sanctions infrastructure to encompass the nation's digital asset industry. The expansion enables US authorities to pursue foreign persons and entities engaged in or providing support to the sector.
During that announcement, the Treasury claimed that Ivan Obukhov, a UAE-based intermediary, had handled over $100 million in cryptocurrency transactions since 2023 to enable Iranian petroleum sales benefiting the IRGC's Quds Force.
Iran conflict pushes oil prices higher
The ongoing conflict between the US and Israel against Iran, which commenced in February, persists in disrupting petroleum shipments throughout the Middle East region.
A Tuesday report from Reuters indicated that Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline continued to be inactive following Friday's attacks that Riyadh attributed to Iran-backed militants in Iraq, while separate missile and drone assaults on Saudi Arabia were conducted on Monday by Iran-backed Houthi forces.
As of the time of writing, market information indicated Brent crude was being traded at approximately $107.59 per barrel, representing an increase of 1.81%, while US West Texas Intermediate was trading at around $103.35, marking an increase of 1.93%.