US Treasury tracks and freezes Iranian crypto assets, Bessent says
- —Tether has frozen roughly $550 million in USDT linked to Iran, mostly during 2026
- —It locked about $344 million in April 2026 and over $130 million tied to Iran's central bank in July
- —OFAC designated BitBank on September 17 for facilitating Bitcoin payments to the Iranian regime
- —The pending seizure is estimated at hundreds of millions to about $1 billion
Why it matters: Stablecoin issuers are becoming an enforcement layer for sanctions, undercutting crypto's use as a way around US restrictions.
Source: Crypto Briefing