$61m Crypto Seizure Part of Broader US Crackdown on Iran-Linked Money Laundering Network
The US Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize $61 million in cryptocurrency linked to Iran's black-market oil sales. The funds allegedly laundered through accounts on Binance were part of a broader crackdown on a massive, transnational network that bypassed global sanctions to benefit the Iranian regime.
The lawsuit targets a network that moved money through unhosted crypto wallets and an Iranian exchange before reaching its ultimate targets. U.S. officials state the funds directly financed the Iranian government and military components, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRGC Quds Force, both designated terrorist organizations by the US.
Binance has not been charged with wrongdoing in this specific filing, but the exchange has frozen suspicious accounts and is cooperating with law enforcement. The $61 million is part of a much larger $1.5 billion cryptocurrency laundering network, which involved two China-based front companies using Binance trading accounts to convert and launder illicit oil proceeds.