Recently, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on eight cryptocurrency wallets on the Tron network, accusing them of being involved in financial support operations for the Houthi militants in Yemen. This is a strong move by the U.S. government to prevent the flow of funds supporting organizations accused of causing instability in the Middle East.


Tron wallet sanctioned for connections to the Houthis


The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (#OFAC ) has updated the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list – a list of sanctioned individuals and entities, to include eight wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain. These wallets are accused of being part of the financial network supporting the Houthis, a militant group in Yemen backed by Iran.


This group has previously launched attacks on Israel and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, causing serious tensions in the region. The U.S. responded with airstrikes in March 2024.


The funding system of the Houthis has been exposed


According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Houthis' financial network has purchased tens of millions of USD worth of goods from Russia, including weapons, sensitive equipment, and stolen grain from Ukraine, which are then transported to areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen.


The sanctioned Tron wallet addresses are linked to Sa’id al-Jamal, a senior financial official of the Houthis based in Iran. The U.S. has designated Sa’id al-Jamal as a global terrorist since 2021 and continues to impose sanctions in 2023 and 2024.


U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated:



"The Houthis continue to rely on Sa’id al-Jamal and his network to procure essential goods for their terrorist war machine. Today's actions demonstrate our commitment to preventing the Houthis' ability to threaten the region."



What impact do the sanctions have?


Based on Executive Order 13324, the U.S. government has the authority to freeze the assets of individuals and foreign organizations accused of participating in or posing a risk of participating in terrorist activities. Therefore:



  • Eight Tron wallets have been blacklisted, and all assets related to these wallets have been frozen.



  • U.S. citizens are prohibited from transacting with these wallets.



  • Cryptocurrency companies may be forced to comply with sanctions, including stablecoin issuers like Tether.




Is Tether affected?


According to data from the Tron block explorer TokenView, the sanctioned wallets have been active since 2023 and mainly transact using the stablecoin USDT of #Tether , with transfers of up to 1 million USD each time.


The U.S. Department of the Treasury has previously sanctioned multiple cryptocurrency wallet addresses linked to groups accused of ties to terrorism, from extremist groups in Russia (2022) to exchanges linked to Hamas (2023).


Tether has mechanisms to block sanctioned wallet addresses, with over 2,100 addresses locked, totaling more than 1.3 billion USDT. However, Tether has yet to make an official comment on whether it will block the newly sanctioned wallets #Tron .


Cryptocurrency and the financial war


Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice seized over 200,000 USD believed to be destined for Hamas, further demonstrating the U.S. government's tightening control over digital money related to organizations accused of links to terrorism.


With this move, the U.S. administration is sending a strong signal that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for internationally sanctioned groups. The question remains: how will platforms like Tron, Tether, or exchanges respond to pressure from the U.S. government?