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

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 to choke off the regime's access to funds. 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 of $344 million in cryptocurrency. The effort is part of a campaign dubbed 'Economic Fury', aimed at targeting all financial lifelines tied to the Iranian regime. This move follows Tether's decision to blacklist two blockchain addresses holding $344 million in USDT. A US official revealed that the sanctioned wallets had 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 believes that Iran's central bank has been using digital assets to conceal its cross-border transactions. Authorities claim that Iran has been increasingly relying on crypto to bypass restrictions, using complex transaction patterns to obscure its involvement in cross-border payments and support trade flows under sanctions pressure. To combat this, the Treasury's OFAC is taking aggressive action against both traditional front companies and the use of digital assets. Additionally, the US agency has sanctioned a China-based refinery, accusing it of playing a major role in Iran's oil economy. The US agency continues to work with blockchain analytics firms and coordinates with financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities.