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

The US Treasury Department has announced the freezing of $344 million in cryptocurrency as part of a broader effort to disrupt Iranian financial networks. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the move is aimed at targeting all financial channels that support the Iranian regime. The freeze is part of a campaign known as 'Economic Fury', which seeks to track and disrupt the flow of money that Tehran is attempting to move outside of the country. The action follows the blacklisting of two blockchain addresses on Tron by stablecoin issuer Tether, which held a total of $344 million in USDT. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned multiple crypto wallets linked to Iran, resulting in the freeze. A US official stated that the sanctioned wallets showed 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 using digital assets to conceal cross-border transactions, and authorities claim that Iran has been increasingly relying on crypto to bypass restrictions and support trade flows under sanctions pressure. The Treasury Department is working with blockchain analytics firms and financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, to track illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities and is taking aggressive action against both traditional front companies and the use of digital assets.