U.S. sanctions four Iran central bank crypto wallets, Tether freezes 131 million USDT

The U.S. added four crypto wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran to its sanctions list following a breakdown of a ceasefire agreement. The four Tron-blockchain wallets received over 165 million stablecoins, according to Chainalysis. Tether froze 131 million USDT held by these accounts, although some funds had moved prior to the freeze. This sanctioning provides exchanges and compliance firms with specific addresses to monitor. The Central Bank of Iran has accumulated at least 507 million USDT to support the rial. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) noted that its wallet lists are not exhaustive, indicating other addresses may still be blocked. Tuesday's update expands on existing designations rather than imposing new sanctions. The Central Bank of Iran has been under U.S. counterterrorism sanctions since 2019 due to its support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hezbollah. This action follows OFAC's June sanctions on Nobitex and other Iranian exchanges for facilitating the central bank's stablecoin transactions. In April, Tether froze 344 million USDT linked to the bank, totaling approximately 475 million USDT blocked across both actions. Chainalysis reported that the four addresses received funds from an institutional liquidity provider and an Asia-based payment processor. The frozen tokens remain visible onchain but cannot be transferred or redeemed, and the funds remain under the control of the wallets belonging to Iran's central bank.

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