The US Treasury Department has frozen a cryptocurrency wallet worth about $130 million that officials believe is controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, expanding Washington’s campaign to disrupt Iranian financial channels outside the traditional banking system.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action forms part of a broader effort to identify and block digital assets tied to Iran. According to the report, investigators are also trying to trace additional assets connected to Iran’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Targeting a larger network
US officials believe the wallet is tied to the IRGC and connected to thousands of digital asset addresses. Authorities say such networks have been used to move money beyond the reach of conventional financial controls, making sanctions enforcement more difficult.
The reported wallet freeze is part of a wider investigation into Iran’s funding system. In addition to crypto holdings, investigators are said to be tracing properties valued at more than $100 million. The article describes the operation as an attempt to map and disrupt a broader web of assets rather than a single isolated seizure.
Crypto’s role in sanctions evasion concerns
The report says US authorities view digital assets as an important channel for Iranian entities seeking to operate outside the regular banking framework. That concern has driven a series of enforcement measures aimed at identifying wallets, exchanges and other infrastructure allegedly linked to sanctions evasion.
Blockchain analysis cited in the report indicates that the IRGC-linked wallet processed more than $3 billion in digital asset transactions in 2025. While that figure points to a large volume of activity, the article attributes it to analysis and official assessments rather than presenting it as a court-established fact.
Recent enforcement steps
The wallet freeze follows other US actions targeting Iranian-linked crypto activity. The report says Washington has already imposed sanctions on a major crypto exchange and seized more than $1 billion in crypto assets connected to Iran.
It also points to related enforcement by private-sector issuers. In one example mentioned in the article, Tether froze $344 million in USDT that was linked to alleged Iran sanctions evasion.
Together, those actions suggest a widening effort to track not only direct state-linked wallets but also the broader digital asset infrastructure that may support Iranian financial operations.
Economic pressure in Iran
The crackdown comes as Iran’s economy faces mounting pressure, according to the report. It says the Iranian rial has fallen to a record low against the US dollar, while inflation has continued to rise sharply.
That backdrop is important to the US approach outlined in the article: financial restrictions appear aimed not only at individual wallets or accounts, but at constraining the channels through which Iranian institutions and affiliated actors can move value internationally.
The latest freeze does not stand alone, but fits into a broader pattern of sanctions pressure, asset tracing and crypto enforcement tied to Iran. The report presents the $130 million wallet action as one element of an expanding campaign to identify funds, properties and transaction networks allegedly connected to the IRGC and the Iranian leadership.
Source: Coin Edition