5 Reasons Why OFAC’s $344 Million USDT Freeze May Not Be Iran-Linked, Expert Reveals

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Five anomalies in the OFAC-sanctioned wallets suggest the $344 million USDT freeze may not be Iran-linked. The findings come from blockchain intelligence firm Nominis. Nominis CEO Snir Levi published the analysis Sunday, breaking down behavioral patterns of the seized addresses. The data points toward overlap with Chinese state-linked infrastructure rather than the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 1. The Wallets Accumulated, Then Went Dormant The designated addresses began moving Tether (USDT) in mid-2021 and ramped up high-value transfers through early 2023. After February 2023, Nominis said, the wallets fell largely inactive. That accumulate-then-freeze shape clashes with prior IRGC flows, which usually keep funds in motion to dodge seizure. 2. Concentrated Balances Break From Past IRGC Patterns Past IRGC clusters spread funds across many wallets and capped individual balances at a few million dollars. They also cycled holdings quickly to limit exposure to freezes. The wallets caught last week instead carry large, sustained balances over multi-year holding windows. 3. Direct Exposure to Huobi and Huione Infrastructure A root wallet in the cluster shows transfers to Huobi, now HTX, and onward links into Huione Group infrastructure. Levi said the activity matches Chinese-dominated exchange behavior from around 2021, including patterns Nominis tracks across HTX and related platforms. 4. Asia-Aligned Operational Timing A separate HTX deposit address received roughly $600,000 from wallets tied to the Central Bank of Iran. Temporal analysis of the address shows trading cycles aligned with Asia-based operations rather than Tehran working hours, Nominis said. 5. Bitfinex Interactions and a 2025 Scam Overlap One sanctioned wallet sent small periodic transfers to Bitfinex-linked addresses. It also received a $5 inbound transaction that Levi flagged as possible testing behavior. The same wallet surfaced in 2025 inside a scam-related flow, raising the prospect that retail users were indirectly exposed to sanctioned infrastructure. Where the Findings Sit Within Operation Epic Fury Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week the United States has seized close to $500 million in Iranian crypto under Operation Epic Fury. The $344 million in Tether frozen at OFAC’s request remains the campaign’s largest single on-chain action. The pressure builds on January’s Zedcex and Zedxion sanctions tied to alleged IRGC dealings near $1 billion. Levi argued static address blacklists no longer capture how state-linked groups evade sanctions on-chain. The case stands out as stablecoin sanctions tooling has become standard practice.

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