Iran's entire digital asset industry has been brought under U.S. sanctions, as the U.S. Treasury expands OFAC's authority

Odaily reported that Bitcoin News stated on the X platform that the U.S. Treasury has expanded sanctions against Iran, covering the country's entire digital asset industry, allowing OFAC to take action against industry operators regardless of their location. The measure took effect on August 24 and also extends to gold, shipping, aviation, and technology. Elliptic's tracking found that Iran's central bank has acquired at least $507 million worth of USDT; Tether froze $344 million in USDT linked to the bank in April. Iran also obtains crypto assets through Bitcoin mining, with Elliptic estimating its Bitcoin mining accounts for approximately 4.5% of the global total, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets annually. The measure does not automatically sanction all Iranian cryptocurrency users, but the U.S. Treasury has gained broader authority to target the industry and supporters of designated entities.