U.S. prosecutors have filed a civil action seeking forfeiture of approximately $61 million in cryptocurrency they link to sales of sanctioned Iranian oil. The September 14 complaint alleges that a network involving two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, handled proceeds intended for Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The action targets the digital assets as property allegedly connected to unlawful transactions.

Prosecutors say the companies used trading accounts at Binance and a series of unhosted wallet addresses to receive, convert and distribute oil-sale payments. A group of addresses identified in the complaint as "Entity A" allegedly received and sent more than $1.5 billion in proceeds. Investigators say some transfers reached money-service businesses and crypto addresses linked to the IRGC. The $61 million sought in the case is a portion of the much larger flow described in the allegations.

The complaint says Blessed Trust presented itself to financial and crypto service providers as a wealth-management or custody firm. Hexa Whale described itself as a commodities broker. Prosecutors allege both provided routes for moving money and obscuring its origin. They also say the companies used parts of the U.S. financial system for transactions worth tens of millions of dollars. The filing describes accounts used at Binance; it does not charge Binance in this forfeiture action.

A civil forfeiture complaint asks a court to determine whether the identified assets can be taken by the government. It is separate from a finding that the allegations have been proven. The case illustrates the investigators' approach to tracing payments across trading accounts and self-hosted addresses, then seeking specific crypto holdings tied to an alleged international oil-payment network.