US Freezes $344 Million in USDT, Citing Efforts to Disrupt Iran's Financial Networks

The US Treasury Department announced on Friday that it has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrency as part of a broader effort to disrupt financial networks linked to Iran. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control is targeting multiple crypto wallets tied to the Iranian regime. The move is part of a campaign dubbed 'Economic Fury', aimed at choking off all financial lifelines to the regime. The freeze follows Tether's decision to blacklist two blockchain addresses holding $344 million in USDT. US officials claim the sanctioned wallets have links to the Iranian regime, including transactions with Iranian exchanges and connections to the Central Bank of Iran. The Treasury Department believes Iran is increasingly using crypto to bypass restrictions and obscure its involvement in cross-border transactions. To combat this, the department is working with blockchain analytics firms and financial institutions to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities.