Israel Freezes 187 Crypto Wallets Linked to Iran

Israel has taken decisive action in the crypto space, targeting wallets allegedly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The order, issued under the country’s anti-terrorism

laws, highlights how digital assets are increasingly central to international security.

Good to know

• 187 wallets suspected of IRGC ties were frozen by Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
• Tether blacklisted 39 of the wallets following the order.
• Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic estimates these wallets handled $1.5B in USDT.

The freeze was made official by Israel’s Minister of Defense, Israel Katz. According to the directive, the freeze remains valid for two years or until property forfeiture orders are signed:

The Ministry explained that the action was tied to suspicions of the wallets being used by the IRGC, a group officially designated as a terrorist organization not only in Israel but also in the United States and several other nations.

Tether Blacklists Part of the Wallets

As part of the enforcement, Tether has already blacklisted 39 of the flagged USDT wallets. By doing so, the company essentially prevents any further transactions from those accounts.

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic confirmed the action and outlined the scale of activity linked to the wallets:

“Elliptic has taken urgent action to ensure that addresses that were included in the NBCTF seizure order are available to screen and trace using our next-generation Holistic blockchain analytics technology. Users will now be able to ensure that they do not inadvertently process funds originating from – or being sent to – addresses included in the seizure order.

These addresses have collectively received $1.5 billion in Tether’s USDT stablecoin. However, it is not possible to verify whether all of these transactions are directly linked to the IRGC since some of the addresses may be controlled by cryptocurrency services and could be part of wallet infrastructure used to facilitate transactions for many customers.”