Arkham Maps Iran Central Bank Tron Wallets After $344M Freeze

Arkham published an on-chain map on May 11 that links two TRC-20 Tron wallets to Iran’s central bank and makes the addresses searchable for investigators and the public. U.S. authorities froze about $344 million in USDT tied to the same addresses, according to Treasury statements.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added the two TRC-20 wallets to its Specially Designated Nationals list on April 24, identifying them as property of Bank Markazi Jomhouri Islami Iran and citing links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hezbollah. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the action as intended to “systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.”

Arkham grouped the linked addresses into a Central Bank of Iran entity page and published an on-chain explorer that traces connected wallets and transaction paths. The firm presented the map and analysis as a starting point for tracing flows through brokers, intermediary addresses, cross-chain bridges and decentralized finance protocols. Arkham did not provide further comment beyond the published material.

An April note from a blockchain analytics firm outlined a multi-step pattern in which oil revenue and other value moved through brokers, intermediary wallets, cross-chain bridges and DeFi systems before returning to accounts associated with the central bank and IRGC-linked entities. Blockchain analytics companies have increasingly traced such multi-stage routes to show how funds move across networks.

Estimates from analytics firms place Iran’s crypto transaction volume at roughly $11.4 billion in 2024 and about $10 billion in 2025. In May, reporting linked Nobitex, Iran’s largest domestic exchange, to members of a powerful family with ties to the country’s leadership and described the exchange as a conduit between domestic users and offshore liquidity. Iranian officials have also explored taking crypto-denominated fees for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Stablecoin issuers and blockchain networks have taken enforcement and monitoring actions. Tether reported it froze the funds at the request of U.S. authorities over “activity tied to unlawful conduct.” A blockchain security tracker showed Tether freezes exceeding $500 million across Ethereum and Tron in a 30-day window, with about $506 million frozen on Tron. A TRON spokesperson noted the network cannot block individual transactions and pointed to the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a 2024 collaboration between TRON, Tether and TRM Labs that works with law enforcement to freeze funds tied to sanctioned entities and terror financing. Tether declined to comment for this article.

The OFAC designations and Arkham’s public mapping identify specific addresses and provide tools investigators can use to trace on-chain activity linked to the named wallets.