US Prosecutors: "Iran Laundered Oil Sale Proceeds Through Cryptocurrency"

"Funds Likely Used for Iranian Military Support"

Binance Provided Accounts but Avoids Indictment

The U.S. federal prosecutors have begun the process of seizing cryptocurrency assets, alleging that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) laundered proceeds from Iranian oil sales through Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

The real-time trading price of Bitcoin is displayed on the status board at the Bithumb Lounge Gangnam Branch in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

According to Bloomberg News on September 14 local time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York asked the court to permit the confiscation of $61 million (approximately 8.3 billion won) in the stablecoin Tether (USDT), which is believed to be proceeds from smuggling Iranian oil subject to U.S. sanctions.

Federal prosecutors determined that Iranian authorities attempted to launder $61 million in terror funds by smuggling Iranian oil to China in order to evade U.S. sanctions. According to the prosecutors, two Chinese entities disguised as asset management and commodity trading companies used Binance accounts to provide funds for military and terrorist activities for Iran and its proxies.

The federal prosecutors found that the total value of illegally traded Iranian oil proceeds through Binance exceeded $1.5 billion (about 2 trillion won).

Meanwhile, although Binance accounts were used as a detour channel to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iran, Binance itself was not included as a target of indictment. The Wall Street Journal, citing Binance’s internal compliance monitoring report, reported that the Revolutionary Guard Corps used Binance to circumvent U.S. financial sanctions and secure military funding. Binance denied the allegation, stating, "We have never directly transacted with any sanctioned entity."

Sean Buckley, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement, "We seek to confiscate more than $61 million in Iranian government funds that likely fueled hostile military actions and terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.