Tether Tips the Scales: $131M in Iran-Linked USDT Frozen as US Turns Up the Heat 🥶

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on Tuesday that the US government ordered the freezing of more than $130 million in cryptocurrency held in wallets linked to Iran, as hostilities in the Middle East intensified. Blockchain investigator Specter earlier pointed to onchain data showing Tether froze four Tron wallets holding $131 million worth of USDt (USDT), and Bessent confirmed on X that the wallets were tied to the Central Bank of Iran.

"US Treasury is committed to disrupting and degrading Iran's illicit financial activities, including its abuse of digital assets," Bessent said Tuesday. "We will continue to aggressively follow the money and deny the Iranian regime access to the proceeds of its illicit revenue schemes." The asset freeze comes amid a collapse in the ceasefire between the US and Iran. The US said it has renewed its blockade of Iranian ports, while the US military's Central Command announced a new wave of strikes on Iran. Iran's military claimed on Tuesday that it carried out drone strikes against US military facilities at Jordan's Al Azraq Air Base.

The move follows a similar freeze in April, when stablecoin issuer Tether confirmed it had frozen more than $344 million in USDT at the request of US authorities. In May, Bessent said the US had seized around $1 billion in Iranian crypto assets as part of Operation Economic Fury, which launched in March 2025. "Through Economic Fury, the Treasury Department is disrupting the foreign procurement networks that support the Iranian military's efforts to acquire weapons," Bessent said in a statement in June. "Treasury has frozen the Iranian regime's assets, severely disrupted its economy, and dismantled the Iranian war machine. Treasury will not tolerate any support of the Iranian military."

TRM Labs has separately reported that Iran-linked entities moved $3.8 billion through CoinEx. The latest enforcement action highlights Tether's recurring role in compliance-driven freezes, with onchain transparency increasingly intersecting with geopolitical sanctions enforcement.