US Freezes $344 Million in Tether's USDT, Citing 'Economic Fury' Against Iranian Regime

In its latest move to disrupt Iran's financial operations, the US Treasury Department has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrency, as part of a broader initiative dubbed 'Economic Fury'. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on multiple crypto wallets linked to Iran, resulting in the freeze of a substantial amount of cryptocurrency. Bessent stated that the US will track and target all financial channels tied to the Iranian regime, as it attempts to move funds outside the country. The sanctions follow Tether's decision to blacklist two blockchain addresses holding $344 million in USDT. A US official revealed that the sanctioned wallets had significant ties to the Iranian regime, including transactions with Iranian exchanges and connections to wallets associated with the Central Bank of Iran. The Treasury Department has accused Iran's central bank of utilizing digital assets to conceal cross-border transactions. As the US increases pressure on Iran, authorities claim that the country has been 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 Treasury's OFAC is working to intensify pressure by targeting both traditional front companies and the use of digital assets, while also collaborating with blockchain analytics firms and financial institutions to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities.