Tether freezes $344 million in USDT linked to Iran under 'Economic Fury'

Tether froze $344 million in USDT on Tron following U.S. law enforcement requests tied to what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called “Economic Fury” — a campaign to choke off “all financial lifelines” for the Iranian regime. The freeze came the same week BIS warned that crypto exchanges are becoming shadow banks, and FATF flagged the growing role of digital dollars in illicit money flows. The irony is thick: Iran demanded crypto tolls for Hormuz passage, and now the largest stablecoin issuer has turned off the tap. Crypto was supposed to be uncensorable. Turns out the issuer of the world’s most-used digital dollar can freeze hundreds of millions with a single keystroke. The petrodollar has a digital enforcer.