5 Reasons Why OFAC’s $344 Million USDT Freeze May Not Be Iran-Linked, Expert Reveals
Five anomalies within the OFAC-sanctioned wallets recommend the $344 million USDT freeze might not be Iran-linked. The findings come from blockchain intelligence agency Nominis.
Nominis CEO Snir Levi revealed the evaluation Sunday, breaking down behavioral patterns of the seized addresses. The knowledge factors towards overlap with Chinese state-linked infrastructure reasonably than the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
1. The Wallets Accumulated, Then Went Dormant
The designated addresses started transferring Tether (USDT) in mid-2021 and ramped up high-value transfers by means of early 2023. After February 2023, Nominis said, the wallets fell largely inactive.
That accumulate-then-freeze form clashes with prior IRGC flows, which normally preserve funds in movement to dodge seizure.
2. Concentrated Balances Break From Past IRGC Patterns
Past IRGC clusters unfold funds throughout many wallets and capped particular person balances at just a few million {dollars}. They additionally cycled holdings rapidly to restrict publicity to freezes.
The wallets caught last week as a substitute carry massive, sustained balances over multi-year holding home windows.
3. Direct Exposure to Huobi and Huione Infrastructure
A root pockets within the cluster reveals transfers to Huobi, now HTX, and onward hyperlinks into Huione Group infrastructure.
Levi stated the exercise matches Chinese-dominated trade conduct from round 2021, together with patterns Nominis tracks throughout HTX and associated platforms.
4. Asia-Aligned Operational Timing
A separate HTX deposit deal with acquired roughly $600,000 from wallets tied to the Central Bank of Iran.
Temporal evaluation of the deal with reveals buying and selling cycles aligned with Asia-based operations reasonably than Tehran working hours, Nominis stated.
5. Bitfinex Interactions and a 2025 Scam Overlap
One sanctioned wallet despatched small periodic transfers to Bitfinex-linked addresses. It additionally acquired a $5 inbound transaction that Levi flagged as potential testing conduct.
The similar pockets surfaced in 2025 inside a scam-related move, elevating the prospect that retail customers have been not directly uncovered to sanctioned infrastructure.
Where the Findings Sit Within Operation Epic Fury
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said final week the United States has seized near $500 million in Iranian crypto below Operation Epic Fury.
The (*5*) stays the marketing campaign’s largest single on-chain motion.
The strain builds on January’s Zedcex and Zedxion sanctions tied to alleged IRGC dealings close to $1 billion.
Levi argued static deal with blacklists not seize how state-linked groups evade sanctions on-chain.
The case stands out as stablecoin sanctions tooling has grow to be customary observe.
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