Blockchain analytics platform Arkham has published a public on-chain map of crypto wallets believed to belong to the Central Bank of Iran. This step has made Tron addresses under U.S. sanctions accessible to investigators and the general public. This move helps identify how entities linked to Iran use stablecoins and blockchain networks to transfer funds outside the traditional banking system. This is reported by Cointelegraph.com .
Arkham's research is based on two TRC-20 wallets added to the sanctions list by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on April 24. These addresses were identified as property of the Central Bank of Iran, accused of ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.
U.S. officials have frozen crypto assets worth approximately 344 million USD linked to Iran. Tether also confirmed that it has blocked these funds associated with illicit activities at the request of the U.S. government. This process is part of a broad sanctions policy aimed at restricting Iran's oil revenues and terrorism financing channels.
According to Chainalysis, Iran uses a complex stablecoin system to route oil revenues through intermediaries, cross-chain bridges, and decentralized finance protocols, subsequently returning them to Central Bank accounts. In 2024, Iran's total crypto transaction volume reached approximately 11.4 billion USD.
Nobitex, Iran's largest crypto exchange, is also suspected of having ties to high-ranking officials. The country is even considering the possibility of collecting customs duties in cryptocurrency for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, making digital assets a primary tool for bypassing the traditional banking system.
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