Tether and Circle Freeze $2.49 Million in Stablecoins at Iranian Exchange Wallex, Assets Urgently Transferred to BSC

Gate News reports that Tether and Circle have simultaneously blacklisted the Ethereum hot wallet of Iranian crypto exchange Wallex, locking approximately $117,000, USDT, USDC, and other tokens. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT discovered this action on March 25.

Hours before the freeze, Wallex used a cross-chain bridge to consolidate assets from multiple Tron and Ethereum wallets into BNB Smart Chain (BSC), successfully transferring about $2.49 million in stablecoins to another BSC address, 0xf945…ccdd. This address only had three small BNB transactions for gas fees, with no further outflows, remaining idle.

Dual freezing is extremely rare and suggests coordinated compliance enforcement by the two major stablecoin issuers. However, Wallex has not yet been officially sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Nonetheless, this incident aligns with recent stricter regulatory trends against crypto platforms related to Iran. In January 2026, OFAC sanctioned UK-registered Zedcex and Zedxion for allegedly facilitating over $1 billion in transactions for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Since 2023, Tether has blacklisted over $3.3 billion in USDT across more than 7,000 wallets. Meanwhile, Iran’s central bank ordered exchanges including Wallex and Nobitex to suspend USDT trading with the Iranian Toman earlier this month to prevent capital flight. Wallex has not issued a public statement; its website remains accessible, but the $2.49 million on BSC has not moved, and other wallets associated with the exchange may also face freezing risks.

This incident highlights the critical role of stablecoins in geopolitical and cross-chain asset management, significantly impacting liquidity in the Iranian crypto market.