Senate investigation finds rampant use of Tether’s stablecoin by Iranian regime

The US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has turned its spotlight on the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, finding that the Iranian regime widely used Tether’s USDT token to evade international sanctions. The inquiry, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, lays out a trail of hundreds of millions of dollars in USDT flowing through wallets connected to Iranian oil transactions, the country’s central bank, and entities aligned with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran’s Central Bank has reportedly accumulated at least $507 million in USDT to keep its economy functioning under heavy financial restrictions. The paper trail and the crackdown The investigation draws on blockchain analysis and reporting from The Wall Street Journal and Fortune, which documented USDT transfers tied to illegal Iranian oil sales and support for IRGC-linked groups. On June 4, 2026, Blumenthal sent a formal records demand to Tether seeking documentation about USDT’s role in Iranian and Russian shadow banking networks. That demand came just two days after the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges: Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex. OFAC cited ties betwee...