US Freezes $344 Million in USDT, Citing Iran Sanctions and 'Economic Fury' Campaign

In its latest move to disrupt Iran's financial networks, the US Treasury Department has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrency, as part of a broader effort dubbed 'Economic Fury'. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned several crypto wallets linked to Iran, resulting in the freeze. Bessent stated that the US will track and target all financial channels tied to the Iranian regime, as Tehran attempts to move funds outside the country. The freeze follows Tether's decision to blacklist two blockchain addresses on Tron, holding $344 million in USDT. A US official revealed that the sanctioned wallets showed significant links to the Iranian regime, including transactions with Iranian exchanges and connections to wallets associated with the Central Bank of Iran. The Treasury Department noted that Iran's central bank has been using digital assets to conceal cross-border transactions. Authorities claim that Iran has been increasingly using crypto to bypass restrictions, employing complex transaction patterns to obscure its involvement in cross-border payments and support trade flows under sanctions pressure. The US is working with blockchain analytics firms and financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities.