Tether’s $344 million USDT freeze linked to U.S. ‘Economic Fury’ against Iran regime
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is seeking to choke off “all financial lifelines” for the regime.
What to know:
- This week’s large U.S. freeze of tether was tied to the federal government’s effort to squeeze Iran’s finances, the Treasury Department confirmed.
- U.S. authorities said that Iran’s central bank has been trying to mask cross-border activity through the use of digital assets.
“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,” Bessent said, adding the effort is part of a broader campaign dubbed “Economic Fury.”
The post follows action taken Thursday by stablecoin issuer Tether blacklisting two blockchain addresses on Tron holding $344 million in USDT altogether.
The company did not return a request for comment.
A U.S. official told CoinDesk that the sanctioned wallets showed material links to the Iranian regime, including transactions with Iranian exchanges and routing through intermediary addresses connected to wallets associated with the Central Bank of Iran. According to the Treasury Department, Iran’s central bank has been leaning into digital assets to try to mask its cross-border transactions.
