The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has frozen $131 million in cryptocurrency wallets linked to Iran’s central bank and armed forces. Tether simultaneously locked four Tron-based wallets as Washington’s financial campaign against Tehran accelerates.
The sanctioned addresses were added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals list, prohibiting U.S. persons from transacting with them and freezing any assets under U.S. jurisdiction. Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, voluntarily froze the wallets identified in the sanctions announcement.
The Treasury action demonstrates how stablecoin issuers can serve as enforcers of U.S. sanctions policy. When OFAC lists specific addresses, Tether and other stablecoin issuers can freeze the associated funds by preventing them from being transferred on their respective blockchains.
The speed of the freeze was notable: OFAC listed the addresses, and Tether froze the associated USDT within hours. This capability has drawn both praise from law enforcement and criticism from privacy advocates who argue it represents a form of centralized control over what is supposed to be a decentralized financial system.
The $131 million figure makes this one of the largest cryptocurrency sanctions actions against Iran. The Treasury has increasingly focused on digital assets as a potential channel for sanctioned nations to circumvent the traditional financial system.
Iran has been actively exploring cryptocurrency as a means to conduct international trade despite U.S. sanctions. The country has issued licenses to crypto miners and has discussed using digital assets for imports, making the Treasury’s enforcement actions a significant constraint on these efforts.
This article was adapted from Decrypt. Read the original here.
