Crypto
Home›Crypto›Regulation›Tether freezes $131 million in USDT tied to Iran centr…
Tether freezes $131 million in USDT tied to Iran central bank
The U.S. Treasury added four Iran central bank-linked Tron wallets to its sanctions list, bringing total blocked USDT linked to the bank to about $475 million.
The U.S. Treasury added four crypto wallets linked to Iran’s central bank to its sanctions list, prompting Tether to freeze $131 million worth of USDT. The accounts were on the Tron blockchain, and the targeted addresses had previously held more than $165 million in stablecoins, according to Chainalysis, the outlet reported.
CoinDesk said the freeze prevents the specific tokens from being transferred or redeemed, while noting the frozen balances remain visible onchain. Tether’s action follows an earlier freeze in April of $344 million in USDT tied to the same central bank, bringing the combined total of blocked USDT to roughly $475 million.
The move comes after a ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran broke down and air and drone strikes resumed, CoinDesk reported. The outlet added that sanctioning wallet addresses gives exchanges, custodians, and compliance firms a clearer set of targets to screen against.
CoinDesk also reported that the U.S. Treasury’s wallet lists are not exhaustive, meaning other addresses controlled by Iran’s central bank may still qualify as blocked property. It said the central bank has been blocked under U.S. counterterrorism authorization since 2019, and the OFAC update expanded an existing designation rather than introducing new sanctions.