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

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 initiative dubbed 'Economic Fury'. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned several cryptocurrency 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 supporting the Iranian regime. The action follows Tether's decision to blacklist two blockchain addresses holding $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 Treasury Department noted that Iran's central bank has been using digital assets to conceal cross-border transactions. Authorities stated that Iran has increasingly relied on cryptocurrency to circumvent restrictions, using complex transaction patterns to obscure its involvement in cross-border payments and support trade flows under sanctions pressure. To counter this, the Treasury's OFAC is taking aggressive action against both traditional front companies and the use of digital assets. The US agency also sanctioned Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co., accusing the China-based refinery of playing a significant role in Iran's oil economy. The Treasury Department continues to collaborate with blockchain analytics firms and financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities.