U.S. Treasury Freezes $130M in Iran-Linked Crypto

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated multiple cryptocurrency wallets tied to Iran and froze more than $130 million in digital assets, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced. The accounts were connected to the Central Bank of Iran and other Iran-affiliated networks and were targeted for allegedly moving illicit revenue.

In an X post, Bessent wrote, “We will continue to aggressively follow the money and deny the Iranian regime access to the proceeds of its illicit revenue schemes.” He did not provide further detail on other actions taken alongside the designations.

Blockchain analysts reported that stablecoin issuer Tether froze four Tron-based wallets holding roughly $131 million in USDT shortly before the Treasury announcement. Analysts linked the addresses to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Central Bank of Iran, and traced much of the balance to transfers from the payment service provider DTC Pay and the cryptocurrency exchange Bitso.

Officials have not explained what prompted the specific blacklist of addresses. Investigators continue to trace the source and destination of the funds. Freezing stablecoin balances typically requires coordination with token issuers and exchanges that control off-chain redemption and custody functions.

The action follows earlier large-scale freezes involving USDT. In April, Tether supported the freeze of more than $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses after U.S. authorities identified the wallets for alleged illicit activity. Tether states it works with more than 340 law enforcement agencies in 65 countries, has supported over 2,300 investigations and frozen more than $4.4 billion in assets, including over $2.1 billion tied to U.S. authorities.

OFAC designations add listed wallets to U.S. sanctions lists and generally prohibit U.S. persons and institutions from transacting with those assets. Treasury officials say the measures aim to limit access to global financial systems for entities that generate revenue for sanctioned states and groups.