Tether Helps Freeze Nearly $550M in Iran-Linked USDT in 2026

Tether says it helped U.S. authorities freeze nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT during 2026.

The stablecoin issuer Tether said the frozen funds involved Iran’s Central Bank and sanctions networks. Moreover, the actions were based on information from U.S. law enforcement and sanctions authorities.

Tether Freezes More Than $474M Through Major Actions

Tether was able to freeze over $344 million in USDT on 2 addresses in April 2026. Later, the Office of Foreign Assets Control added those addresses to the list of digital currency identifiers.

Tether Has Supported Nearly $550 Million in Iran-Linked USD₮ Freezes as U.S. Expands Sanctions Campaign

Read more:https://t.co/L15BcxEjo7

— Tether (@tether) September 28, 2026

The addresses were identified by OFAC as being linked to Iran’s Central Bank. The sanctions designation also mentioned ties with the IRGC-Qods Force and Hizballah.

Meanwhile, more than $130 million in USDT was frozen across 4 wallets in July. The U.S. Treasury has added 4 more TRON addresses to its Central Bank of Iran list.

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These 2 actions froze over $474 million worth of USDT. Tether said it has seen more small enforcement actions, bringing its total to nearly $550 million in 2026.

The company’s disclosure comes amid growing pressure on Iran-backed financial networks in the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently unveiled a new operation, called Operation Economic Outcast, against financial networks that support Iran.

Digital assets are also getting more attention in the Treasury campaign. As a result, there has been increased enforcement focus on cryptocurrency transactions with sanctioned entities.

Ardoino, CEO of Tether, stated that public blockchains give authorities the visibility of transactions. He said that Tether has the ability to take action when law enforcement has credible information.

Tether Reports $4.9B in Frozen Assets Globally

Tether said it has worked with authorities in other instances besides the recent Iran-related ones. The company has been cooperating with the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing in Israel for a number of years.

Tether revealed in 2023 that it had frozen 32 addresses with $873,118.34 in them. The company indicated that those addresses were linked to illegal activities against Israel and Ukraine.

Since then, Tether has frozen over $22 million in assets in over 40 cases referred by NBCTF, it said. In those cases, over 640 cryptocurrency addresses were used.

In addition, Tether stated it collaborates with over 340 law enforcement agencies in 67 countries. It works cooperatively on over 2,800 investigations around the world, including over 1,500 with U.S. agencies.

Tether says these efforts have led to over $4.9 billion in frozen assets. Over $2.4 billion of those assets were linked to U.S. authorities.

The company works with several U.S. agencies, including the DOJ, FBI, Secret Service, and HSI. It also collaborates with OFAC on enforcement matters relating to sanctions.

Tether has helped law enforcement in several high-profile cryptocurrency investigations, such as fraud and sanctions cases. These cases have involved investment fraud, money laundering, and terrorist financing.

The recent disclosure comes on the heels of investigations into the use of USDT by Iranian-related wallets. The Senate investigation reportedly looked at 846 sanctioned wallets linked to Iran and regional proxies.

It is reported that 84% of those wallets were mainly or only using USDT. The latest numbers from Tether, therefore, show that it is increasingly working with the authorities investigating sanctioned cryptocurrency networks.