Tether says it helped freeze $550M in Iran-linked USDT

Tether has said it helped freeze nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT this year as U.S. authorities targeted wallets tied to the Central Bank of Iran and other sanctioned networks.

Tether said on Sep. 28 that it acted on information from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and U.S. law enforcement when more than $344 million in USDT was frozen across two addresses in April. OFAC added the same addresses to the Central Bank of Iran’s sanctions entry the following day. The entry also identifies links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hezbollah.

In July, more than $130 million was frozen across four other wallets as Treasury added four TRON addresses to the central bank’s designation. Tether put its total for Iran-linked USDT freezes in 2026 at approximately $550 million. Its announcement gave the amounts for the April and July actions but did not itemize every freeze included in that total.

The July action was previously covered by crypto.news, which reported that the four TRON wallets held about $131 million in USDT. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time that OFAC had sanctioned multiple wallets tied to Iran’s central bank.

Tether froze two wallets before OFAC listed them

The order of the April steps is central to Tether’s account. According to the company, it supported the freeze after U.S. authorities supplied information about the two addresses; OFAC then formally listed those addresses as digital currency identifiers for the Central Bank of Iran.

Earlier reporting on the April $344 million freeze identified roughly $213 million in one TRON wallet and $131 million in another. The restrictions applied to the USDT held at the addresses. They did not require the TRON network itself to stop processing transactions.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said public blockchains let authorities follow fund movements and that the company can act when law enforcement provides credible information. He described USDT as “not a haven for sanctioned actors, terrorist organizations or criminal networks.” His statement sets out the company’s position; the wallet designations and freeze amounts are separate actions reported by OFAC and Tether.

The issuer said it has aligned its freezing policy with OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals list, including listed wallets that hold USDT after its initial issuance. A freeze prevents tokens at a blocked address from moving. It is distinct from a government seizure or a court order transferring ownership of the assets.

Treasury has expanded Iran sanctions to digital assets

Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast on Aug. 24 and named digital assets alongside technology, gold, aviation and shipping in five new sectoral sanctions determinations. The department said the measures expanded its authority to target foreign people and companies operating in or supporting those sectors of Iran’s economy.

For U.S. businesses and individuals, OFAC designations carry direct transaction restrictions when a listed party or its blocked property is involved, unless an exemption or license applies. Treasury has also warned foreign firms about possible sanctions exposure for facilitating Iranian sanctions evasion. Those are Treasury’s stated rules and warnings, rather than a new restriction created by Tether’s announcement.

On Sep. 17, OFAC designated Iranian digital asset venture BitBank, its software developer, and three associates of financier Babak Zanjani under the campaign. Treasury alleged that Zanjani’s network used digital asset businesses to move funds for the IRGC, including hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin. The BitBank sanctions action also placed the developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, on OFAC’s list.

A separate U.S. civil case shows how a wallet freeze can precede an effort to take custody of tokens. In September, prosecutors sought forfeiture of $61.2 million in USDT held across ten TRON addresses that court filings said Tether had frozen in 2025. A Sep. 14 warrant authorized the FBI to take custody of the targeted assets; the forfeiture complaint asks a court to award ownership to the government. That case concerns alleged Iranian oil proceeds and is separate from Tether’s stated 2026 freeze total.

Earlier Iran-linked wallets and U.S. cases add context

Tether also cited work with Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing. It said the bureau has referred more than 40 cases involving over 640 addresses, resulting in freezes of more than 22 million USDT. In 2023, the company disclosed a freeze of 32 addresses holding $873,118.34 in a case involving illicit activity affecting Israel and Ukraine.

After the Israeli bureau published a list of 187 addresses it associated with the IRGC in September 2025, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that Tether had blacklisted 39 of them. Approximately $1.5 million in USDT remained in those wallets when they were frozen, according to Tether’s account of Elliptic’s findings.

Across its law enforcement work, Tether said it cooperates with more than 340 agencies in 67 countries and that the efforts have helped freeze over $4.9 billion in assets, including more than $2.4 billion connected to U.S. authorities. The body of its announcement states more than 2,800 investigations globally and more than 1,500 involving U.S. law enforcement, while its page subtitle gives higher figures of more than 2,900 and more than 1,600, respectively.

Among the U.S. cases the company cited was a September Justice Department operation against a marketplace serving scam centers. Tether said authorities restrained more than $52 million in one day and that the department acknowledged its assistance. It also cited a February seizure of more than $61 million in USDT tied to an alleged investment fraud operation, in which the Justice Department and Homeland Security Investigations acknowledged its help transferring the assets.