Scott Bessent Unleashes ‘Economic Fury,’ Freezes $344M In Iran-Linked Crypto Assets

• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department is targeting Iran-linked financial networks under its “Economic Fury” campaign, resulting in the freeze of $344 million in cryptocurrency.
• The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned multiple crypto wallets tied to Iran, including those linked to the Central Bank of Iran, IRGC, and Hezbollah.
• The move follows earlier sanctions under “Economic Fury,” including action against crypto exchanges and Iranian oil and weapons procurement networks.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that the Treasury Department was targeting Iran-linked financial networks, resulting in the freeze of $344 million in cryptocurrency tied to Tehran.

Bessent said on X that the action was part of the US government’s “Economic Fury” campaign, adding that the U.S. “will continue to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.” 

He added that authorities will “follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime.”

The US Treasury Secretary added that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) was sanctioning multiple cryptocurrency wallets tied to Iran, including those linked to the Central Bank of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Hezbollah.

Tether Freezes USDT Linked To Iran Wallets

The enforcement action was carried out on Thursday, when Tether coordinated with US authorities to freeze the funds, primarily held in USDT, the largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, across two addresses on the TRON blockchain.

The wallets were identified through intelligence linking them to Iranian financial networks, with “activity connected to unlawful conduct,” marking one of the largest stablecoin-related enforcement actions to date.

“USDT is not a safe haven for illicit activity,” Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, added. Tether’s price was trading at $1 over the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around USDT remained in the ‘bullish’ zone, while chatter around it moved to ‘normal’ from ‘high’ over the past day. 

Earlier this month, Iran demanded that oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz pay tolls in cryptocurrency as part of a two-week ceasefire with Israel and the United States. 

Earlier Crypto And Oil Sanctions 

Thursday’s freeze was not the first crypto-related enforcement action by the US Treasury. In January, OFAC designated two UK-registered crypto exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, for processing transactions on behalf of the IRGC, marking the first time the agency sanctioned digital asset exchanges specifically for operating within Iran’s financial sector.

Separately, earlier this month, the Treasury also sanctioned more than two dozen individuals, companies, and vessels tied to Iranian oil smuggling networks, followed by designations of 14 entities involved in procuring weapons components for Tehran across Iran, Turkey, and the UAE.

Read also: VanEck Sees Bullish Shift In Bitcoin While Funding Rates Slide To Lowest Since 2023

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