Report: Nobitex routed $2.3 billion in USDT across Tron and BNB; Tether froze $344 million

Reuters reported, citing blockchain analytics firms Arkham Intelligence and Elliptic, that Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, routed at least $2.3 billion since 2023 through the Tron and BNB Smart Chain blockchains, mostly using the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT. Reuters reported the transfers were used to skirt U.S. sanctions, with the firms linking some of the flows to sanctioned Iranian entities.

The reported volume is significant on its own, but the more immediate takeaway is how enforcement works in this market. On April 23, Tether, the company that issues USDT, said it froze more than $344 million in USDT on Tron after being notified by U.S. authorities, showing that while stablecoins can move quickly across public blockchains, issuers can still block funds once specific addresses are identified.

According to Reuters, citing Arkham and Elliptic, about $2.0 billion of the Nobitex-linked flows moved on Tron and about $317 million on BNB Smart Chain. Reuters also reported, again citing the analytics firms, that some of the transfers were linked to sanctioned Iranian entities including the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, a powerful branch of Iran’s military that is under U.S. sanctions. Those findings rely on blockchain analytics firms’ wallet attribution, not on public identities attached to blockchain addresses.

Tether described the freeze in a press release dated April 23. “Tether announced today that it has supported the U.S. Government in freezing $344 million USD₮ across two addresses. The freeze was executed after the addresses were identified, preventing further movement of funds.” Tether said the action took place in coordination with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, which administers sanctions, and U.S. law enforcement. “USD₮ is not a safe haven for illicit activity,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.

That enforcement action fits into a broader trail already documented this year. In a Jan. 21 research post, Elliptic wrote, “The Central Bank of Iran has acquired US dollar stablecoins worth at least half a billion dollars.” Elliptic said the Central Bank of Iran had acquired at least $507 million in USDT and that it traced much of that flow through Nobitex until a June 2025 hack changed routing patterns. That earlier research helps explain why Reuters’ reported $2.3 billion figure did not emerge in a vacuum: Nobitex has already featured prominently in reporting and analysis of Iran-linked crypto activity.

For readers outside the crypto industry, the case underscores a basic tension in stablecoins. Tokens such as USDT can be transferred at large scale on open networks like Tron and BNB Smart Chain, which publish transactions publicly. But unlike decentralized cryptocurrencies with no central issuer, USDT can be frozen by Tether when law enforcement or sanctions authorities identify addresses they want blocked.

The sanctions backdrop is longstanding. OFAC maintains Iran-related sanctions that include the Central Bank of Iran and the IRGC. At the same time, the specific claims about Nobitex’s transaction volumes and links to sanctioned entities should remain carefully sourced: Reuters reported them, citing Arkham Intelligence and Elliptic. Public blockchains show the movement of funds, but identifying who controls particular wallets depends on analytics firms’ attribution.