The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it had frozen more than $130 million in digital assets connected to the Central Bank of Iran and sanctioned multiple cryptocurrency wallets affiliated with the institution.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the enforcement action in a post on X on Wednesday, July 15, stating that the Treasury is “committed to disrupting Iran’s illicit financial activities, including its abuse of digital assets.”
Bessent stated that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had sanctioned several digital wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran, resulting in the freezing of more than $130 million in digital assets. “We will aggressively follow the money trail and cut off the Iranian regime’s access to revenue from its unlawful activities,” he added.
The Treasury Department did not release details regarding where the assets were held or the identities of the crypto platforms involved in the case.
The United States has consistently escalated pressure on the Islamic Republic’s financial networks in recent months. OFAC previously sanctioned several major Iranian exchange houses, stating that these firms moved billions of dollars annually on behalf of blacklisted Iranian banks.
