The U.S. Department of Justice seeks to seize more than $61 million in USDT stablecoin belonging to Tether, in a case in which prosecutors say the funds came from Iranian oil sales subject to sanctions through the black market, and that they were intended to finance the Iranian government and the military, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

According to the civil lawsuit, entities alleged to be Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, which are registered in Hong Kong, used accounts on Binance to move proceeds from oil sales to buyers in China. Authorities say a network of addresses linked to these activities received and distributed more than $1.5 billion, including transfers to money-transfer companies linked to the Revolutionary Guard, cryptocurrency addresses, and an Iranian trading platform.

The case takes on special significance because it once again puts compliance for stablecoins in the spotlight. According to the complaint, Tether froze approximately 61.19 million USDT distributed across 10 addresses on the Tron network during 2025. The documents also indicate that a seizure warrant allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation to take possession of assets by destroying the frozen tokens and issuing replacements of the same value to a hardware wallet under the bureau’s control.

In a separate comment, a Binance spokesperson said the platform does not allow transactions involving sanctioned individuals, and that it would continue to cooperate with law enforcement, including investigating, restricting, or freezing accounts when appropriate. She added that the case was not brought against the platform itself, and it did not include any accusation that it committed violations.

For its part, the Ministry of Justice explained that what was stated in the civil forfeiture complaint remains unproven allegations, and that the U.S. government will not gain permanent ownership of the assets unless the court issues a forfeiture ruling in its favor.

This step comes at a time when Washington is tightening its financial pressure on Tehran, alongside broader disruptions in energy markets and supply chains in the Middle East. It was preceded in August by the U.S. Treasury’s expansion of the sanctions framework on Iran to include the digital asset sector, allowing foreign individuals and companies working in or supporting this sector to be targeted.

The case reflects how USDT and other stablecoins can become a point of convergence between regulatory compliance, tracking of financial flows, and enforcement of sanctions—especially when the alleged transfers are linked to sensitive sectors such as oil trading.

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