Arkham maps Iran central bank wallets after $344M USDT freeze

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TRC-20 wallets tied to Iran. Source: Arkham US authorities froze about $344 million in crypto linked to Iran as part of that action, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, describing it as an effort to “systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.” Tether separately said it had frozen the funds at the request of US authorities over “activity tied to unlawful conduct,” without explicitly naming Iran in its public statement. Arkham’s wallet mapping reflects a broader push by blockchain analytics firms and stablecoin issuers to expose and disrupt sanctions evasion networks increasingly using crypto infrastructure tied to Tron and Tether. In an April 27 note, Chainalysis described a multi-step stablecoin “pipeline” in which Iranian oil revenues were routed through brokers, intermediary wallets, cross-chain bridges and decentralized finance protocols before cycling back into accounts associated with the Central Bank of Iran and IRGC-linked entities. The Arkham findings come against a broader backdrop of growing Iranian crypto use. A February report on Iran’s digital assets footprint, citing estimates from TRM Labs and Chainalysis, put the country’s overall crypto transaction volume at about $11.4 billion in 2024 and $10 billion in 2025. In May, Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, was reportedly linked to members of a powerful family with ties to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and used as a key conduit between domestic users and offshore liquidity. In April, Iran reportedly considered charging crypto-denominated tolls to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, positioning digital assets as an additional revenue channel outside traditional banking rails. Separately, Cointelegraph reported Friday that Tether had frozen more than 500 million USDT over a recent 30-day period across Ethereum and Tron, with around 506 million of that on Tron, according to BlockSec’s USDT Freeze Tracker. A TRON spokesperson told Cointelegraph the network itself cannot monitor or block individual transactions, but pointed to the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a collaboration between TRON, Tether and TRM Labs launched in 2024, as its main channel for tackling abuse, saying it works with law enforcement “to freeze hundreds of millions of funds,” including funds tied to sanctioned entities and terror financing. Tether declined to comment. Asia Express: North Korea denies crypto hacks, Upbit’s bank tests Ripple More on the subject

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