The U.S. has sanctioned several crypto wallets said to be linked to Iran, including addresses holding $344 million in USDT that Tether froze this week. The move adds a digital asset angle to Washington’s wider pressure campaign against Tehran during a tense ceasefire period.
CNN reported that the frozen cryptocurrency was linked to Iran, citing a U.S. official. Tether said on Thursday that it supported the U.S. government in freezing $344 million in USDT across two addresses after authorities shared information tied to alleged unlawful activity.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations declined to comment, according to CNN. The report also noted that CNN had not independently verified that the Tether accounts were linked to Iran.
U.S. targets Iran-linked crypto wallets
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Treasury Department was sanctioning multiple wallets tied to Iran. The action comes as the President Trump administration seeks to increase economic pressure on Tehran while talks linked to the war remain stalled.
“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 in a statement.
Tether said it acted in coordination with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control and U.S. law enforcement. A U.S. official told CNN that the government had information connecting the frozen assets to Iran. The official said authorities worked with blockchain analytics experts while reviewing the movement of funds.
The official said the government saw “evidence of material links to the Iranian regime.” The official cited confirmed transactions with Iranian exchanges and intermediary addresses that interacted with wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran.
Tether freeze adds focus to sanctions enforcement
Tether said the freeze covered two addresses after several U.S. authorities shared information about activity tied to unlawful conduct. The company said it restricted the assets to stop further movement.
The latest action shows how stablecoin issuers can play a role in sanctions enforcement. Stablecoins such as USDT often move across public blockchains, but issuers can freeze tokens at specific addresses when they receive lawful requests.
The U.S. official said the Central Bank of Iran has used more complex methods to hide its role in cross-border transactions using digital assets. The official said Iran has used these methods to support trade and stabilize the rial under heavy sanctions.
“The Central Bank of Iran has used increasingly complex methods to obfuscate its involvement in cross-border transactions using digital assets,” the official said, according to CNN.
The Treasury Department also keeps contact with U.S. and foreign financial firms, including digital asset exchanges, the official said. That contact allows authorities to track funds that move through crypto platforms and other financial routes.
The report comes as sanctioned states continue to use crypto to move value outside the traditional banking system. Iran, Russia and North Korea have all faced claims that they use digital assets to raise funds or bypass parts of the global financial system.
Blockchain data links wallets to Iran activity
Crypto-tracing firm Chainalysis said cryptocurrency holdings in Iran reached $7.8 billion in 2025. The firm said those holdings grew faster for most of the year than in 2024.
Chainalysis also said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accounted for about half of those blockchain holdings in the final quarter of 2025. The firm said this pattern matched the group’s wider role inside Iran’s economy.
The company reviewed activity tied to the frozen Tether accounts and said the wallets had moved large sums in earlier years. It said the addresses made frequent transfers, with some reaching tens of millions of dollars.
“When these wallets were regularly active several years ago, they engaged in frequent, large transfers of up to tens of millions of dollars, largely with other private wallets,” Chainalysis said.
The firm said those patterns were consistent with how known Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps wallets have moved funds on-chain. However, CNN said it had not independently confirmed the link between the frozen Tether accounts and Iran.
The freeze also follows an earlier crypto-related incident involving Iran. Last year, hackers widely believed to support or act on behalf of Israel stole about $90 million from Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange during Israeli strikes on Iran.
Analysts question effect on Tehran
Daniel Tannebaum, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the freeze was “meaningful,” but he questioned whether it would change Iran’s actions during the conflict.
He said Iran has faced sanctions for decades and has built ways to keep operating under financial pressure. He also said some third-country actors continue to do business with Iran despite U.S. restrictions.
“I don’t think it necessarily moves the needle for thwarting Iran’s attempts to continue operating in the state of the conflict as it is right now,” Tannebaum said.
He said the U.S. may need to focus more on outside actors that help Iran. He pointed to countries and firms that continue to buy Iranian oil or support payments outside the U.S. banking system.
“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,” he said.
Later on Friday, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a China-based independent teapot refinery for buying billions of dollars of Iranian petroleum. That move showed Washington’s continued focus on oil flows and other funding channels tied to Iran.
Tannebaum also said Iran has used crypto-related funds for years. He said Tehran uses digital assets with parties trying to avoid the U.S. banking system.