The US Justice Department is seeking the seizure of $61 million in crypto. The alleged origin of illegal sales of Iranian oil. Two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, allegedly laundered these funds in Iran via accounts opened on Binance. Richard Teng, the boss of the crypto exchange reacted! According to him, the complaint does not target Binance and does not allege any fault on its part. The case is part of a much larger network, valued at $1.5 billion by New York prosecutors.
In brief
- The DOJ is seeking the seizure of $61 million in crypto, claimed to come from illegal sales of Iranian oil.
- Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale are accused of having converted these funds via Binance accounts, cited only as a place of transit.
- Richard Teng denies any involvement by Binance and claims zero tolerance on sanctions.
$61 million and the Iranian money laundering mechanism via Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale
The civil forfeiture complaint, filed by the Southern District of New York, targets approximately $61 million in crypto that prosecutors attribute to the Iranian regime. The mechanism described is classic on paper but formidable in execution. Blessed Trust, presented as a wealth management structure, and Hexa Whale, which positions itself as a commodities broker, would have served as fronts to convert cash into crypto for the benefit of clients linked to Iran. The accounts used to transit these funds were hosted on Binance. Yes, the crypto exchange is named there, but only as a platform, not as a stakeholder in the scheme. Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley summed up the scope of the problem:
the Iranian government used a network of crypto actors in China and elsewhere to launder more than $1.5 billion in illicit oil money.
A cluster of wallets called “Entity A” would have redistributed this sum to entities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), an organization classified as terrorist by Washington.
What the Binance complaint really says and why Richard Teng is stepping up to the plate
On X, Teng was direct. This case was not filed against Binance and does not allege any wrongdoing on Binance’s part. He points out that in confiscation proceedings, the defendants are the assets and the entities that control them. In this case Blessed Trust, Hexa Whale and their loved ones. Binance is only listed as a platform. An important nuance, but which does not erase a charged history because last August, a Reuters investigation traced approximately 4 billion dollars moved in two years by Shelbit, part of which passed through Binance.
Binance then disputed the $540 million advanced, saying the linked accounts had already been frozen and reported. The crypto exchange remains under increased surveillance for three years, a direct consequence of its guilty plea in 2023. But also of its $4.3 billion in penalties for breaches of anti-money laundering rules and sanctions. Suffice to say that each new mention of the name Binance in an Iranian file, even as a simple decoration, revives the file.
Crypto: Changpeng Zhao (CZ) touts the growth of BNB Chain
Calendar coincidence or not, but the same week where Binance must defend yourself from an Iranian filethe BNB Chain ecosystem displays a very different reason for pride. On September 14, the Elja account published a ranking showing BNB Chain overtaking Solana in TVL DeFi. This, with 5.935 billion dollars against 5.887 billion. CZ, founder of Binance, responded bluntly:
Keep building. 100x growth is totally achievable in the next two years.
Two faces of the same group, two speeches in parallel. On the one hand, compliance which responds point by point to a federal prosecutor. On the other, the crypto growth narrative which fuels ranking overruns. The two stories don’t really contradict each other. They coexist and this is precisely what makes Binance difficult to summarize in one sentence.
What to learn from Richard Teng’s response to Binance’s accusation
- The DOJ is seeking forfeiture of $61 million linked to an oil laundering ring in Iran valued at $1.5 billion.
- Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale are the entities targeted by the DOJ and Binance is only cited as a transit crypto platform.
- Richard Teng denies any wrongdoing by Binance and recalls the reinforced surveillance already in place since 2023.
- The same day, CZ praised the progress of BNB Chain, now ahead of Solana in TVL DeFi.
On paper, Binance comes out of this complaint without a scratch, no charges, no named defendant. But the crypto platform continues to appear, article after article, in money laundering files linked to Iran. Always as a setting, never as an accused, and it’s really starting to look like a motive against Richard Teng, rather than a coincidence.
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