Five anomalies in OFAC-sanctioned portfolios suggest the $344 million USDT freeze may not be linked to Iran. The findings come from blockchain intelligence firm Nominis.
Snir Levy, CEO of Nominis, published the analysis on Sunday, analyzing the behavioral patterns of the seized addresses. The data indicates interference with infrastructure linked to the Chinese state rather than the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
1. Portfolios accumulated and then died down
Selected addresses began transferring Tether (USDT) in mid-2021 and ramped up high-value transfers until early 2023. After February 2023, Nominis He saidwallets have become largely inactive.
The accumulation-then-freeze format is in contrast to previous IRGC flows, which typically kept funds on the move to avoid seizure.
2. Concentrated stocks break from previous IRGC patterns
past Iranian Revolutionary Guard groups Distribute funds across several wallets and cover individual balances of a few million dollars. They also rotated the property quickly to limit exposure to freezing.
the Wallets caught fire last week Instead, carry large, sustainable balances over multi-year holding windows.
3. Direct exposure to Huobi and Huione infrastructure
The root wallet in the pool displays transfers to Huobi, Now HTXand subsequent links to the Huione Group infrastructure.
The activity matches China-dominated exchange behavior since around 2021, Levy said, including patterns tracked by Nominis across HTX and related platforms.
4. Timing of operations compatible with Asia
A separate HTX deposit address received nearly $600,000 from wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran.
Nomines said analysis of the address time showed trading cycles in line with operations in Asia and not business hours in Tehran.
5. Bitfinex Interactions and Scams Overlap in 2025
One sanctioned wallet Sending small periodic transfers to addresses linked to Bitfinex. She also received an incoming $5 transaction, which Levi flagged as potential test behavior.
The same wallet appeared in 2025 in a fraud-related stream, raising the possibility of retail users being indirectly exposed to sanctioned infrastructure.
Where the results sit within the Epic Fury process
Treasurer Scott Besent He said Last week, the United States seized nearly $500 million in Iranian cryptocurrencies as part of Operation Epic Fury.
the $344 million worth of Tether has been frozen at the request of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). It remains the campaign’s largest single on-series action.
The pressure is building up Zedcex and Zedxion Sanctions for January Linked to alleged Iranian Revolutionary Guard transactions approaching $1 billion.
Levy argued that static address blacklists no longer explain how to do this State-linked groups evade sanctions On the chain.
The case stands out as Stablecoin Sanctions Tooling has become standard practice.
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