US DOJ Seeks $61M USDT Forfeiture Tied to Sanctioned Iranian Oil Sales

USDT forfeiture — The US Department of Justice is seeking the forfeiture of over $61 million in Tether’s USDT stablecoin, alleging the funds are proceeds from black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian oil intended to finance Iran’s government and military.

The civil forfeiture complaint, filed on September 15, 2026, alleges that Hong Kong-incorporated entities Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale used Binance accounts to move proceeds from oil sold to buyers in China. A network of related addresses allegedly received and distributed more than $1.5 billion, including transfers to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-linked businesses.

Tether froze approximately 61.19 million USDT across 10 addresses on the Tron network in 2025. The FBI now seeks custody by having Tether destroy the frozen tokens and issue replacements to be transferred to an FBI-controlled hardware wallet, pending a court judgment.

Binance stated it does not permit transactions with sanctioned individuals and continues to cooperate with law enforcement, noting the case was not filed against the exchange. The action follows the US Treasury’s August expansion of its Iran sanctions framework to cover the country’s digital asset sector.