Tether's $344 million USDT freeze linked to U.S. 'Economic Fury' against Iran regime

Policy Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Tether's $344 million USDT freeze linked to U.S. 'Economic Fury' against Iran regime Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is seeking to choke off "all financial lifelines" for the regime. By Krisztian Sandor | Edited by Jesse Hamilton Apr 24, 2026, 7:50 p.m. Make preferred on Iranian flag (Akbar Nemati/Unsplash) What to know : This week's large U.S. freeze of tether was tied to the federal government's effort to squeeze Iran's finances, the Treasury Department confirmed. U.S. authorities said that Iran's central bank has been trying to mask cross-border activity through the use of digital assets. The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday that a $344 million cryptocurrency freeze is part of its latest effort to disrupt financial networks tied to Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an X post that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning multiple crypto wallets linked to Iran, resulting in the freeze of $344 million in cryptocurrency. "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," Bessent said, adding the effort is part of a broader campaign dubbed "Economic Fury." The post follows action taken Thursday by stablecoin issuer Tether blacklisting two blockchain addresses on Tron holding $344 million in USDT altogether. The company did not return a request for comment. A U.S. official told CoinDesk that the sanctioned wallets showed material links to the Iranian regime, including transactions with Iranian exchanges and routing through intermediary addresses connected to wallets associated with the Central Bank of Iran. According to the Treasury Department, Iran's central bank has been leaning into digital assets to try to mask its cross-border transactions. Authorities said Iran has increasingly turned to crypto to bypass restrictions, using more complex transaction patterns to obscure its involvement in cross-border payments and support trade flows under sanctions pressure. Treasury's OFAC is trying to turn up the pressure by moving aggressively against both the traditional front companies and the use of digital assets, the official said. Meanwhile, it sanctioned Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co. on Friday, accusing the China-based independent refineries of playing a major role in Iran’s oil economy. The U.S. agency said it continues to work with blockchain analytics firms and maintains coordination with financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, as it tracks illicit flows tied to sanctioned entities. Tether Stablecoins Iran More For You Trump defends crypto legislation at private event featuring boxer Mike Tyson, Tether CEO By Helene Braun , Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De 10 hours ago President Donald Trump, at a Mar-a-Lago gathering of investors in his self-branded memecoin, said crypto is mainstream and banks should back off the industry's bill. What to know : At a private Mar-a-Lago event for top $TRUMP memecoin holders, President Donald Trump vowed he would not let banks derail the long-delayed Clarity Act on U.S. crypto market structure. The Clarity Act, intended to define how digital assets are regulated, has been stalled by disputes between banks and crypto firms... Read full story Latest Crypto News Crypto is built for AI agents, not humans, says Alchemy's CEO 10 hours ago Trump defends crypto legislation at private event featuring boxer Mike Tyson, Tether CEO 10 hours ago BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF just hit a massive milestone that proves crypto is now a mainstream bet 10 hours ago How Anthropic’s Mythos model is forcing the crypto industry to rethink everything about security 12 hours ago Bitcoin falls after Trump reportedly canceled Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's Iran-talks trip 13 hours ago Mike Tyson, Tether CEO, Cathie Wood among speakers at Trump's 'most exclusive' crypto conference 13 hours ago Top Stories Clock is ticking for bitcoin to prevent quantum threat as it could drain 6.9 million BTC including Satoshi’s 19 hours ago Coinbase’s Jesse Pollak says AI agents are the next big wave for crypto payments 16 hours ago U.S. CFTC adds New York to string of states its suing to stop prediction market pushback Apr 24, 2026 Michael Saylor says the bitcoin winter is over. Some experts agree, with caveats. Apr 24, 2026 Bitcoin at $40,000 would be 'near-unprecedented' statistical outcome, analyst says 14 hours ago SpaceX's $75 billion IPO could drain the liquidity that's helping lift bitcoin and crypto Apr 24, 2026