Israel confiscated USDT worth $1,5 million

Key points:

• Israel’s NBCTF froze 187 crypto wallets linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
• Transactions worth $1,5 billion were made through these wallets.
• Tether blacklisted 39 wallets, freezing about $1,5 million USDT and prohibiting further transactions.

Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) has published a list of 187 cryptocurrency addresses that it says are linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The organization is under sanctions and recognized as a terrorist organization in the US, Canada, the UK, and the EU.

According to analytics company Elliptic, $1,5 billion in USDT has passed through the seized addresses over time.

Source: Elliptic

However, Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson noted that not all frozen addresses may be linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Defense Minister Israel Katz explained in the Administrative Detention Order:

“Pursuant to my authority according to section 56(b) of the Anti-Terrorism Law 5776–2016 (hereafter — the Law), and having been convinced that the cryptocurrency wallets specified in the below list (hereafter — the Property), are property of the designated terrorist organization Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, or property used for the perpetration of a severe terror crime as defined by the Law, I hereby order the seizure of the property.”

What the NBCTF order says

According to the order, cryptocurrency wallets are recognized as property of the IRGC or assets used for serious terrorist crimes. The document is valid for two years or until final confiscation. Wallet owners have the right to challenge the seizure by sending objections to the NBCTF within two months.

Source

Excerpt from the NBCTF order on the seizure of crypto assets

Of the 187 addresses listed by the NBCTF, 39 were blacklisted by Tether, and 1,5 million USDT was confiscated by the Israeli government.

Current IRGC activities in the crypto sphere

Earlier, the US Department of Justice seized $584 741 in US dollars from Iranian citizen Mohammad Abedini. Abedini is the founder of a company that manufactures navigation systems used in the IRGC’s program to create military drones, including the Shahed UAV.

In December 2024, the US Treasury Department added cryptocurrency addresses worth $332 million to its sanctions lists. These addresses were linked to Sa’id Ahmad Muhammad al-Jamal, who himself was sanctioned for transferring tens of millions of dollars to the Houthi militant group in Yemen (Ansar Allah) in cooperation with senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-Quds).