Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) announced on 15 September 2025 the seizure of 187 cryptocurrency wallets it claims belong to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC is sanctioned and designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The action forms part of a broader effort to disrupt alleged terrorist financing through digital assets.
According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the flagged wallets collectively received $1.5 billion in USDT, Tether's dollar-pegged stablecoin, over time, though they currently hold only $1.5 million. Elliptic co-founder and chief scientist Tom Robinson cautioned that the firm cannot independently confirm the wallets belong to the IRGC, noting that some addresses may be part of wallet infrastructure used by cryptocurrency services serving multiple customers. Of the 187 addresses flagged by Israel, 39 had already been blacklisted by Tether as of 13 September 2025, freezing approximately $1.5 million in USDT. The seizure follows a pattern of escalating actions: in June 2025, the pro-Israel hacking group Predatory Sparrow stole $90 million from Iranian crypto exchange Nobitex, which Elliptic and others have linked to IRGC activities including ransomware operations, and subsequently destroyed the funds by sending them to inaccessible wallets. In December 2024, U.S. Treasury sanctions targeted IRGC-linked wallets that moved more than $300 million in stablecoins via an intermediary connected to Yemen's Houthis, while just last week the U.S. Justice Department seized nearly $600,000 in USDT from an Iranian national accused of building drone navigation systems for the IRGC.
The case underscores the increasing scrutiny by governments and regulators of cryptocurrency transactions aimed at preventing illicit finance, while the use of stablecoins for sanctions evasion remains a significant challenge for the international financial system.
Sources:
- https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/15/israel-announces-seizure-of-1-5-million-from-crypto-wallets-tied-to-iran/
- https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/09/16/israel-claims-iran-s-revolutionary-guard-holds-usd1-5b-in-stablecoins
- https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/cryptocurrency-news/israel-seizes-187-crypto-wallets-allegedly-linked-to-irgc/
