US Freezes $344 Million in Tether's USDT, Citing Iran Sanctions

In its latest move to disrupt Iran's financial networks, the US Treasury Department has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrency, marking a significant escalation in the US government's 'Economic Fury' campaign against the Iranian regime. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on multiple crypto wallets linked to Iran, resulting in the freeze of substantial cryptocurrency assets. Bessent emphasized that the US will pursue and target all financial channels tied to the Iranian government, as part of a broader effort to weaken the regime's economic foundations. The freeze is linked to Tether's recent blacklisting of two blockchain addresses on the Tron network, which held a combined total of $344 million in USDT. US officials have revealed that the sanctioned wallets demonstrated significant connections to the Iranian regime, including transactions with Iranian exchanges and intermediary addresses associated with the Central Bank of Iran. As Iran's central bank increasingly resorts to digital assets to conceal cross-border transactions, the US Treasury Department is stepping up its efforts to combat these tactics, working closely with blockchain analytics firms and financial institutions to track and disrupt illicit financial flows tied to sanctioned entities.