Tether says it helped freeze nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT in 2026

Tether said it assisted authorities in freezing nearly $550 million in Iran-linked USDT during 2026, including more than $344 million tied to the Central Bank of Iran in April. For high-risk payment operators, the point is straightforward: stablecoin flows are being traced, frozen, and used as evidence in sanctions enforcement.

1. In a statement on Monday, Tether said it has been working with international law enforcement for years. This year alone, the company said it froze more than $130 million in USDT across four wallets, and in April it froze more than $344 million linked to the Central Bank of Iran.
2. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said, “Tether has consistently demonstrated that USDT is not a haven for sanctioned actors, terrorist organizations or criminal networks.” The company also said its cooperation with authorities globally has resulted in more than $4.9 billion in assets being frozen, including more than $2.4 billion connected to US authorities.
3. The statement came after Democratic investigators on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report alleging that USDT had become a key channel for Iran to evade sanctions. Investigators said 84% of 846 crypto wallets sanctioned over ties to Iran had transacted exclusively or nearly exclusively in USDT.
4. The findings prompted US Senator Richard Blumenthal to call on the Treasury and Justice departments to investigate potential sanctions violations. For PSPs, acquirers, and banks working anywhere near crypto, the message is that transaction patterns involving stablecoins can now end up in a sanctions file, not just an AML alert.
5. Ardoino said the record is public and listed the DOJ, FBI, Secret Service, HSI, OFAC and authorities around the world as agencies that have repeatedly worked with Tether to trace, freeze and recover assets.

Related pressure on crypto compliance is not limited to Tether. Cointelegraph also noted a separate probe involving Binance’s Iran compliance, with the Manhattan US Attorney leading the investigation.