Tether Freezes $344 Million in USDT Linked to Iran’s Central Bank, OFAC Adds Wallets to Sanctions

Tether said it froze $344 million in its USDT stablecoin across two Tron wallets after U.S. authorities identified the addresses, in a high-profile enforcement action that was quickly followed by formal sanctions. A day later, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC — the agency that administers U.S. sanctions — added the two wallet addresses to the sanctions listing for Bank Markazi, Iran’s central bank.

The move also fits into a broader U.S. pressure campaign. Fox Business reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on April 29 that the government had seized “nearly $500 million” in Iranian cryptocurrency assets under Operation Economic Fury. But Treasury, based on the material reviewed, has not publicly itemized that larger total line by line, so it should not be treated as identical to the $344 million Tether freeze.

The sequence is unusually clear. On April 23, Tether said it had acted “in coordination with OFAC and U.S. law enforcement.” The company said: “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.” On April 24, OFAC amended its Specially Designated Nationals, or SDN, list to attach those two Tron wallets to Bank Markazi’s entry. On April 29, Fox Business reported Bessent’s broader claim about cumulative Iranian crypto seizures.

Public blockchain explorers showed balances roughly matching Tether’s announcement, with about $213 million in one wallet and about $131 million in the other, for a total near $344 million. That public, wallet-level evidence makes the freeze one of the clearest documented examples of a major stablecoin issuer immobilizing a very large sum tied to a sanctions target.

The wallet designation was part of a larger Treasury package announced April 24 under Operation Economic Fury, which Treasury described as targeting a global network supporting Iran’s oil trade and shadow fleet. In other words, the crypto action was one element of a wider sanctions campaign aimed at disrupting how Iran moves money and sells oil outside the formal financial system.

The case also shows how two different enforcement tools can work together. OFAC can add digital wallet addresses to an SDN listing, which generally bars U.S. persons and companies from dealing with them and gives crypto businesses a clear screening target. Tether, as the issuer of USDT, can separately freeze tokens at the issuer level on supported blockchains. That is a key distinction from crypto assets designed to be censorship resistant: even when tokens remain visible on a public blockchain, the issuer can prevent them from moving if it chooses to cooperate with law enforcement.

Tether underscored that point in its public statement. Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, said, “USD₮ is not a safe haven for illicit activity.”

Bessent’s later remarks suggest the administration sees the freeze as part of a larger sanctions push rather than a standalone event. Fox Business reported he said Treasury had seized “nearly $500 million” in Iranian cryptocurrency assets, and quoted him as saying, “We are freezing bank accounts everywhere. More importantly, we are making people less willing to deal with the regime.”

What is firmly documented, however, is the $344 million action tied to the two Tron wallets: Tether froze the USDT after U.S. authorities identified the addresses, and OFAC then formally linked those wallets to the sanctioned Central Bank of Iran. Together, those steps illustrate how U.S. sanctions enforcement is reaching on-chain assets at significant scale, using both official sanctions listings and the control that major stablecoin issuers retain over their tokens.