The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned four cryptocurrency wallets associated with Iran's central bank, prompting Tether to freeze $131 million worth of USDT.
This action targets TRON-based wallets that previously held over $165 million, preventing the movement or redemption of those funds.
By Francisco Rodrigues|Edited by Sheldon Reback Jul 16, 2026, 10:07 a.m. 2 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on
Iran Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati (left) (Ai Hadadi Asl/ATPImages/Getty Images)- The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned four crypto wallets associated with Iran’s central bank, causing Tether to freeze $131 million in USDT.
- The freeze specifically affects TRON-based wallets that had previously held over $165 million, restricting those funds from being moved or redeemed.
- This sanctions action raises the total USDT blocked in connection with Iran's central bank to approximately $475 million.
Following the collapse of a ceasefire agreement, the U.S. has placed these four crypto wallets under sanctions. These wallets, based on the TRON blockchain, had received more than $165 million in stablecoins, as reported by Chainalysis. Tether has frozen $131 million in USDT from these accounts, though some funds had already been moved prior to the freeze.
This sanctioning provides exchanges, custodians, and compliance firms with specific addresses to monitor. According to Elliptic, Iran's central bank has accumulated at least $507 million in USDT, using these tokens to bolster the rial.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury has indicated that the list of sanctioned wallets is not comprehensive, suggesting that other addresses linked to the bank may also be subject to blocking.
The recent OFAC update expands on existing sanctions rather than introducing new ones. The Central Bank of Iran has been under U.S. counterterrorism sanctions since 2019 due to its support for groups like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hezbollah.
This development follows OFAC's June sanctions against Nobitex and other Iranian exchanges accused of assisting the central bank in managing stablecoin transactions.
Earlier, in April, Tether had frozen $344 million in USDT related to the bank, which now totals about $475 million across both actions.
Chainalysis reported that the four wallets received funds from an institutional liquidity provider and a payment processor based in Asia.
While the frozen tokens are still visible on the blockchain, the wallets are unable to transfer or redeem them. However, this freeze does not equate to a seizure, as the funds remain under the bank's control.
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