$131M in Iranian cryptocurrency assets frozen by United States amid escalating regional conflict
American Treasury authorities mandated the freezing of more than $130 million in Tether stablecoin from digital wallets connected to Iran's central banking institution amid growing tensions across the Middle East.
Scott Bessent, serving as US Treasury Secretary, verified on Tuesday that American authorities issued orders to freeze cryptocurrency holdings exceeding $130 million contained within digital wallets associated with Iran, as tensions across the Middle Eastern region continued to escalate.
On the same Tuesday, Specter, a blockchain investigation firm, highlighted onchain transaction records demonstrating that Tether had frozen a total of four Tron-based wallets containing $131 million in USDt (USDT) value. Through a post on X, Bessent authenticated that these particular wallets maintained connections 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 cryptocurrency asset freezing action arrives during a period marked by the deterioration of the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran. According to American officials, the United States has reinitiated its blockade operations targeting Iranian ports, and the US military's Central Command made public announcements regarding a fresh round of military strikes directed at Iran. At the same time, Iranian military forces asserted on Tuesday that they executed drone strike operations targeting US military installations located at the Al Azraq Air Base in Jordan.
This action mirrors a comparable freezing operation that occurred in April, during which Tether, the stablecoin issuing company, verified that it had frozen cryptocurrency holdings surpassing $344 million in USDT value following requests from United States government authorities.
During May, Bessent disclosed that the United States had successfully seized approximately $1 billion worth of Iranian cryptocurrency holdings as a component of the American financial pressure initiative targeting Iran, which operates under the designation Operation Economic Fury and commenced operations 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."