{"id":16972,"date":"2026-04-24T14:43:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=16972"},"modified":"2026-04-24T14:43:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:43:48","slug":"us-sanctions-iran-linked-crypto-wallets-including-addresses-holding-344-million-frozen-by-tether","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/us-sanctions-iran-linked-crypto-wallets-including-addresses-holding-344-million-frozen-by-tether\/","title":{"rendered":"US Sanctions Iran-linked Crypto Wallets, Including Addresses Holding $344 Million Frozen by Tether"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>And this is why you don&#8217;t want to use a centralized cryptocurrency other than minor amounts for purchases. Throw in Ethereum and all forms of stablecoins who can and do lock people out of funds. <a href=\"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/the-case-for-the-only-cryptocurrency-of-value-bitcoin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bitcoin<\/a> is decentralized and can&#8217;t be locked, with governments only able to control fiat on-ramps and off-ramps within their borders. With a VPN you can use exchanges outside the country or third parties with cash. And you can always convert Bitcoin to Monero if you want to avoid government tracking altogether. And below, Tether can be settled over Tron or Ethereum networks with $3.5 billion locked. I&#8217;ve used it once for a purchase over Ethereum, and I found it a bit of pain and not worth the effort preferring Bitcoin, Bitcoin Lightning, Bitcoin Liquid, or Monero. But for some people outside the country, it&#8217;s much better than their fiat currency for holding value over time as linked to the dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stables.rip\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"711\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-41.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16973\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-41.png 711w, https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-41-300x288.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 711px) 100vw, 711px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/398847\/us-sanctions-iran-linked-crypto-wallets-addresses-344-million-frozen-tether-cnn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/398847\/us-sanctions-iran-linked-crypto-wallets-addresses-344-million-frozen-tether-cnn<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ub-divider ub_divider ub-divider-orientation-horizontal\" id=\"ub_divider_ffe38888-a9a2-4b31-8a08-1fc61038a446\"><div class=\"ub_divider_wrapper\" style=\"position: relative; margin-bottom: 2px; width: 100%; height: 2px; \" data-divider-alignment=\"center\"><div class=\"ub_divider_line\" style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 2px; \"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>By Daniel Kuhn<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tbstat.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/f=avif,q=50\/wp\/uploads\/2021\/02\/20210203_Department_of_Treasury-1200x675.png\" alt=\"US sanctions Iran-linked crypto wallets, including addresses holding $344 million frozen by Tether: CNN\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quick Take<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The move comes a day after Tether froze $344 million worth of USDT, which has now been linked to Iran, CNN reported.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cWe will follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime,\u201d Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the federal government is sanctioning multiple wallets linked to Iran as part of President Donald Trump\u2019s ongoing attempts to increase economic pressure on the country amid an ongoing ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move comes a day after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/398599\/tether-freezes-344-million-in-usdt-on-tron-after-wallets-flagged-by-u-s-authorities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tether froze $344 million<\/a> worth of USDT, which has now been linked to Iranian sanctions, CNN reported on Friday, citing an anonymous U.S. official. Tether noted on Thursday that the action was made in coordination with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and U.S. law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; Bessent said in a statement quoted by CNN.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that Iran was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/396711\/bitcoin-payments-allowed-hormuz-tanker-tolls-iran-2-million-per-ship-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accepting bitcoin<\/a> as a form of payment for the transit fees it imposed on oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The country, which is known as a bitcoin mining hub, has long turned to cryptocurrencies to sidestep economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chainalysis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chainalysis.com\/blog\/iranian-crypto-activity-geopolitical-tensions-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimates<\/a> that crypto holdings in Iran reached $7.8 billion in 2025, with Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accounting for roughly half of those holdings. The firm notes the IRGC has become accustomed to making large transfers totalling several million dollars between private wallets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two wallets Tether froze on Thursday were regularly active years ago, Chainlysis told CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the Tron addresses held roughly $213 million in USDT while the other held $131 million. They were blacklisted at the smart contract level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>And this is why you don&#8217;t want to use a centralized cryptocurrency other than minor amounts for purchases. Throw in Ethereum and all forms of stablecoins who can and do lock people out of funds. Bitcoin is decentralized and can&#8217;t be locked, with governments only able to control fiat on-ramps and off-ramps within their borders. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16974,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972\/revisions\/16974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}