Circle and Tether Restrict $2.49M in Crypto — Inside the Wallex Wallet Freeze

The move is part of tighter enforcement of international sanctions.

Circle and Tether freeze $2.49M tied to Iran’s Wallex exchange

25.03.2026 - 08:05

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2 min

Key points:

Circle and Tether froze $2.49 million in USDC and USDT tied to Iran-based exchange Wallex.
The restrictions targeted specific wallets, not the entire platform.

Circle and Tether, the issuers of USDC and USDT, have frozen crypto wallets holding about $2.49 million. The addresses are linked to Iran-based exchange Wallex. The move reflects stricter enforcement of international sanctions across the crypto industry.

The freeze was first identified by blockchain investigator ZachXBT. According to his findings, only specific wallets were affected, not the exchange as a whole. These addresses can no longer send or receive USDC or USDT. Blockchain analytics firms confirmed the freeze using publicly available on-chain data.

Circle and Tether Tighten Transaction Oversight

The action appears to be coordinated between the two companies. Such measures are possible due to built-in control mechanisms. For example, Circle maintains a blacklist that allows it to block USDC transactions from certain addresses. Tether has a similar capability to freeze USDT.

These tools have long been a point of debate in the crypto community. On one hand, they help companies comply with laws and sanctions. On the other, they raise questions about how decentralized these assets really are. The Wallex case shows how these controls work in practice.

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The move was part of a coordinated operation involving US law enforcement agencies

Blockchain analysis also played a key role in uncovering the event. ZachXBT tracked the movement of funds and publicly reported the freeze. Thanks to blockchain transparency, such actions can be independently verified. Analysts linked the frozen addresses to Wallex wallets and confirmed the connection.

Public data makes these enforcement actions visible to the entire market. This improves accountability but also highlights how much control major players have over their ecosystems.

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