US Freezes $344 Million in USDT, Citing Iranian Regime's 'Financial Lifelines'

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 campaign known as 'Economic Fury'. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned multiple crypto wallets linked to Iran, resulting in the freeze of $344 million in cryptocurrency. Bessent stated that the US will track and target all financial channels tied to the Iranian regime, as part of a concerted effort to stifle its economic activities. The move follows Tether's decision to blacklist two blockchain addresses on Tron, holding a combined total of $344 million in USDT. A US official revealed that the sanctioned wallets had significant connections to the Iranian regime, including transactions with Iranian exchanges and links to wallets associated with the Central Bank of Iran. The Iranian central bank has reportedly been using digital assets to conceal cross-border transactions. The US authorities have noted that Iran has increasingly turned to cryptocurrency to evade restrictions, using complex transaction patterns to obscure its involvement in cross-border payments and support trade flows under sanctions pressure. The Treasury Department's OFAC is taking aggressive action against both traditional front companies and the use of digital assets, while maintaining coordination with financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities.