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, as part of a broader initiative known as '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 $344 million in cryptocurrency. Bessent stated that the US will track and target all financial channels tied to the Iranian regime, as part of a concerted effort to choke off its access to global finances. The development follows Tether's decision to blacklist two blockchain addresses on Tron, holding a combined $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 Iranian central bank has been increasingly using digital assets to conceal cross-border transactions. Authorities noted that Iran has been relying on crypto to circumvent restrictions, using complex transaction patterns to obscure its involvement in cross-border payments and support trade flows under sanctions pressure. The Treasury Department's OFAC is taking aggressive action against both traditional front companies and the use of digital assets, while also maintaining coordination with financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities.