The US Government says it has frozen approximately $344 million worth of the Tether stablecoin USDT, linking the holdings to Iran. The move, first reported by CNN, comes as shaky diplomatic efforts to reach a deal to end the war continue to stall and the global economy reels from its impact.
The Trump administration has sought to increase economic pressure on Iran during the ceasefire, trying to follow where any spending from Tehran goes during the ceasefire. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the agency “is sanctioning multiple wallets tied to Iran.” “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,” he said in a statement.
On Thursday, Tether announced it had “supported the US government in freezing” $344 million in cryptocurrency across two addresses, after information was shared “by several U.S. authorities about activity tied to unlawful conduct.”
Per US Officials, the Trump administration had several bits of information linking the frozen crypto stablecoins to Iran. “Working with blockchain analytics experts, the US government has observed evidence of material links to the Iranian regime, including confirmed transactions with Iranian exchanges and a series of transactions routed through intermediary addresses that interact with Central Bank of Iran-associated wallets,” one official said to CNN. The Treasury Department “maintains an active dialogue with numerous US and foreign financial institutions, including digital assets exchanges,” the official added.
Also Read: New Apple Stock Price Prediction After John Ternus Becomes CEO
Iran is one of the numerous countries that have faced sanctions for years. Hence, the USDT stablecoin was an alternative for Iran to avoid these sanctions, something that BRICS countries have also explored. Daniel Tannebaum, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said that the freeze of the assets is “meaningful.” “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,” including China, he told CNN. Tannebaum also noted that Iran has “been leveraging crypto-related funds for years.”