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

In its latest move to disrupt Iranian financial networks, the US Treasury Department has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrency. The freeze is part of a broader initiative, dubbed 'Economic Fury,' aimed at targeting the financial channels used by the Iranian regime. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the department will pursue all financial trails that Tehran is attempting to utilize outside of the country, focusing on severing all financial lifelines connected to the regime. This action follows Tether's decision to blacklist two blockchain addresses on the Tron network, which collectively held $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 Iranian central bank has been increasingly relying on digital assets in an attempt to conceal cross-border transactions. Authorities have observed that Iran is turning to cryptocurrency to bypass restrictions, employing complex transaction patterns to obscure its involvement in cross-border payments and support trade flows under sanctions pressure. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is intensifying its efforts against both traditional front companies and the use of digital assets. This includes the recent sanctioning of Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co., a China-based independent refinery accused of playing a significant role in Iran's oil economy. The US agency continues to collaborate with blockchain analytics firms and maintains coordination with financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities.