The Israeli Ministry of Defense has issued a seizure order for 187 cryptocurrency wallets that it claims are linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a group designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S., the EU, and others. According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, these wallets have collectively received about US$1.5 billion in Tether (USDT) stablecoin over time—though only US$1.5 million remains in them now. Israel’s order is backed by its National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF), citing that the wallets are either owned by the IRGC or used to facilitate terrorism. Elliptic notes, however, that they cannot independently verify that all wallets are actually IRGC-controlled, since some may belong to exchanges or shared infrastructure. The stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen 39 of the flagged wallets to date.
Sources: TechCrunch, CoinDesk
Key Takeaways
– The scale of the alleged flow is large: US$1.5 billion in total receipts to the wallets in question, though most of it has moved on and only about US$1.5 million remains and has been frozen.
– Identification is uncertain: While Israel claims ownership or control by the IRGC, independent verification remains partial—some wallets may be part of shared crypto-service infrastructure.
– Legal and compliance tools in play: Israel is using its Anti-Terrorism laws via the NBCTF to seize or freeze digital assets, and stablecoin issuers (like Tether) are cooperating by blacklisting certain wallets.
In-Depth
Israel’s latest move to seize funds tied to Iran’s IRGC marks a significant expansion in the emerging intersection among sanctions enforcement, cryptocurrency regulation, and counter-terror financing. On September 15-16, 2025, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, through its National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, formally ordered the seizure of 187 crypto wallets alleged to be owned or controlled by the IRGC. According to analyses by Elliptic, those wallets have received approximately US$1.5 billion in USDT over their histories. However, due in large part to past outflows, only about US$1.5 million remains, which Tether has frozen in 39 of the wallets flagged.
The legal instrument used by Israel underscores the growing importance of domestic laws in dealing with digital assets tied to internationally‐sanctioned entities. Under Israeli law’s anti-terror provisions, authorities have the power to seize or freeze any financial asset determined to facilitate or belong to terrorism. With cryptocurrency, this power becomes more complex given the pseudonymous or sometimes shared nature of wallet addresses. Elliptic itself cautions that not every flagged wallet is indisputably under IRGC control; some may be operated by exchanges or intermediaries that serve a broad user base.
This enforcement action fits into a larger global trend: an increasing reliance on cryptocurrency traceability and cooperation among governments, blockchain analytic firms, and stablecoin issuers to cut off financing channels for groups under sanctions. Tether’s freezing of the US$1.5 million is an example: even though comparatively small in the context of the total volume, that freeze demonstrates how stablecoin issuers are participating in enforcement so that sanctioned flow cannot simply be rerouted without consequence. For now, questions still surround how such seizures are implemented in practice—how guilt or ownership is established, how much of the flagged funds are truly IRGC-controlled, and what precedents this sets for future cases. But clearly, digital assets are no longer a loophole but rather a battleground in the struggle between sanctions regimes and those seeking to evade them.