A US official said on Friday that the $344 million in Tether (USDT) frozen on Thursday was linked to Iran. The official tied the blacklisted addresses to transactions routed through Iranian exchanges and Central Bank of Iran wallets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed a sanctions action targeting the same wallets, describing a broader push to cut off the financial channels Tehran uses as diplomatic efforts to end the war stall.
Two Addresses, One Iran Nexus
Tether said on Thursday it had supported US authorities in freezing $344 million in USDT across two addresses. The stablecoin issuer stated the move followed information shared by several US agencies about activity tied to unlawful conduct, coordinated through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
A US official reportedly told CNN that government analysts, working with blockchain analytics firms, observed material links to the Iranian regime.
That evidence included confirmed transactions with Iranian exchanges and flows routed through intermediary addresses interacting with Central Bank of Iran wallets.
The official added that Iran’s central bank has adopted increasingly opaque methods to hide cross-border digital asset activity. The effort aims to stabilize the rial and keep trade flowing under sanctions.
“We will follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime,” read an excerpt in the report, citing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement on Friday.
Iran Leans Harder on Stablecoins
The freeze fits a pattern documented by blockchain researchers. Chainalysis reported Iranian crypto holdings reached $7.8 billion in 2025, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) holding roughly half of those assets by the fourth quarter.
The firm said the two frozen Tether wallets behaved like other known IRGC addresses when they were active, moving tens of millions of dollars in single transfers, often to private wallets.
Tehran has repeatedly relied on stablecoins to sidestep the traditional banking system.
Earlier this year, Tether and Circle blacklisted a hot wallet through USDT on the Tron network.
Debate Over the Real Impact
Not everyone is convinced the seizure meaningfully constrains Tehran. Daniel Tannebaum, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and partner at Oliver Wyman, called the freeze “meaningful” but noted Iran has spent decades adapting to economic pressure.
“The way to get at Iran at this point, because Iran is truly sanctioned out, is to go with the third country actors enabling them,” Tannebaum told CNN, pointing to jurisdictions such as China as the more consequential choke point.
Intrusions targeting Iran’s own crypto infrastructure have also escalated in parallel.
Last year, pro-Israel hackers drained roughly $90 million from Iran’s largest exchange during military strikes.
Friday’s disclosure lands at a pointed moment for stablecoin policy. Tether said it now coordinates with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 65 countries and has helped freeze over $4.4 billion in assets.
That reach being able to change how Tehran routes its next transfers is the question regulators and exchanges should watch moving forward.
