US Freezes $344M in Crypto Linked to Iran Groups

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday added two Tron blockchain addresses to its Specially Designated Nationals list and froze $344 million in cryptocurrency it tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted the action on X and published the designations.

Bessent wrote that the enforcement is part of efforts to “systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.” He also wrote, “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.”

The Treasury notice identified two wallets on the Tron network holding a combined $344 million that officials linked to the IRGC and Hezbollah. Adding the addresses to the SDN list generally bars U.S. persons and companies from engaging with the designated accounts and can lead private firms to freeze related balances.

A day earlier, stablecoin issuer Tether reported it had frozen more than $344 million in its USDt tokens at the request of U.S. authorities for “activity tied to unlawful conduct.” Tether’s statement did not explicitly name Iran.

Treasury officials did not provide a full transaction history for the frozen addresses in the public notice. They described the action and the stablecoin freeze as coordinated steps to disrupt channels that could be used to move funds internationally.

The sanctions followed reports that Iran had proposed charging ships in cryptocurrency for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping chokepoint. Officials said the designation is part of wider efforts to clamp down on cryptocurrency flows the U.S. links to Iran.

OFAC enforces U.S. economic and trade sanctions by listing people, entities and financial instruments the Treasury determines support terrorism, proliferation or other activities contrary to U.S. foreign policy. USDt, commonly called USDT, is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether and widely used for trading and transfers. Tron is a public blockchain protocol that supports token transfers and smart contracts.

The designation does not itself describe any criminal charges. Private-sector firms and exchanges typically respond to SDN listings and law enforcement requests by blocking or freezing assets tied to the listed addresses.