The United States freezes $344 million in cryptocurrencies due to their links to Iran

CNN revealed that the administration of President Donald Trump has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrencies that it says are linked to Iran, at a time when the United States is escalating its pressure on Tehran.

This step comes at a time when diplomatic efforts continue to reach an agreement to end the war, while the global economy suffers from its repercussions. The US administration sought to increase economic pressure on Iran during the ceasefire period.

It is unclear whether this large sum of money will have an impact on Tehran or its approach to the war and negotiations.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said on Friday that the department “is imposing sanctions on multiple portfolios linked to Iran.”

He added in a statement: “We will track the money that Tehran is desperately trying to transfer out of the country, and we will target all financial lifelines linked to the regime,” while the Iranian mission to the United Nations refused to comment.

The company “Tether” announced (Tether) a digital currency company that facilitates cryptocurrency transactions around the world, said it “supported the US government in freezing” $344 million in cryptocurrencies via two addresses, after “several US authorities shared information about activities related to illegal behavior.”

A US official told CNN that the government has information linking these currencies to Iran.

The official explained: “By working with blockchain analytics experts (blockchainThe US government has observed evidence of material ties to the Iranian regime, including confirmed transactions with Iranian exchanges and a series of transactions routed through intermediary addresses interacting with wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran.

“The Central Bank of Iran has used increasingly sophisticated methods to conceal its involvement in cross-border transactions using digital assets, as they seek to stabilize the rial and facilitate international trade in an increasingly restrictive environment,” the US official said on Friday.

He added that the Treasury Department “maintains an active dialogue with numerous US and foreign financial institutions, including digital asset exchanges.”

Cryptocurrency holdings in Iran reached $7.8 billion in 2025, and grew at a faster rate for most of the year than in 2024, according to cryptocurrency tracking firm Chainalysis (Chainalysis). The Iranian Revolutionary Guard acquired nearly half of those blockchain holdings in the last quarter of 2025, which “reflects its dominance over the Iranian economy in general,” according to the company.

“When these wallets were regularly active several years ago, they engaged in frequent and large transfers amounting to tens of millions of dollars, mostly with other private wallets,” Chainalysis said in a statement to CNN on Friday, referring to the Tether accounts that were frozen by the US government. “These patterns are consistent with how we have observed other known IRGC wallets moving funds on the network.”

Daniel Tannenbaum, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the asset freeze is “meaningful,” but given the scale of the sanctions imposed on Iran, “I don’t think this will necessarily change the course of thwarting Iran’s attempts to continue operating in the conflict situation that it is now.”

He added that Iran has been subject to sanctions for decades and has put in place adaptation mechanisms, noting that some countries have continued to do business with Iran despite the sanctions.

He told CNN: “The way to get to Iran at this stage, given that it is completely isolated by sanctions, is to go after the third-country actors that enable it,” including China.

Tannenbaum also noted that Iran has been “benefiting from money linked to cryptocurrencies for years.”

“They will use it on actors trying to stay out of the US banking system,” explained Tannenbaum, who is also a partner at Oliver Wyman. He added that Iran is “really trying to use any possible means to pay for the additional armament and military support it needs at the present time.”

Last year, hackers – widely believed to be working in support of or on behalf of Israel – stole the equivalent of about $90 million from Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.