Senate report links USDT to Iran's shadow banking

A US Senate report examining 846 crypto wallets sanctioned by the United States or Israel found that 84 percent had been involved in USDT transactions. The report argued that Tether's dollar stablecoin had become an important component of financial networks used by Iran and affiliated organisations to move money outside conventional banking channels.

Tether said it cooperates with US authorities and had frozen nearly $550 million of Iran-linked USDT during 2026. A freeze depends on the issuer identifying an address and exercising the controls built into the token.

The report measures activity among already sanctioned wallets, not the share of all USDT use connected to Iran. It nevertheless shows why a centrally issued stablecoin can be useful both for moving dollars across borders and for enforcing sanctions after addresses are identified.