Tether and Circle Freeze $2.49 Million as Iranian Exchange Wallex Rushes Funds to BSC

Tether and Circle simultaneously blacklisted an Ethereum hot wallet belonging to Iranian crypto exchange Wallex, locking stablecoins while the platform was actively moving assets across chains.

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT flagged the incident on March 25. The freeze hit address 0x6926…43df, which held roughly $117,000 in Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), and smaller tokens at the time of the blacklist.

Wallex Consolidation Triggered the Freeze

Hours before the blacklist, Wallex reportedly began consolidating crypto from multiple hot wallets on Tron and Ethereum into BNB Smart Chain (BSC) using several cross-chain bridges.

The operation partially succeeded. Approximately $2.49 million in Binance-Peg BSC-USD landed at a separate BSC address, 0xf945…ccdd.

That address has logged only three small incoming BNB transactions for gas fees. No outflows have occurred since. The funds remain completely idle.

Tether and Circle Freeze $2.49 Million as Iranian Exchange Wallex Rushes Funds to BSC. Source: ZachXBT on Telegram

The dual freeze is rare. Both major stablecoin issuers acted within the same window, suggesting coordinated compliance enforcement.

Wallex has not been formally designated by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), though all crypto activity tied to Iran is subject to broad sanctions exposure.

Broader Crackdown on Iranian Crypto Flows

The incident fits a pattern of escalating stablecoin enforcement against Iran-linked platforms. In January 2026, OFAC sanctioned two UK-registered exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, for allegedly facilitating over $1 billion in transactions for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Tether alone has blacklisted over $3.3 billion in USDT across more than 7,000 wallets since 2023.

Iranian exchanges face growing pressure. Iran’s central bank ordered major platforms, including Wallex and Nobitex, to suspend USDT-toman trading earlier in March to slow capital flight following U.S. and Israeli military strikes.

Wallex has not issued a public statement. Its website remains operational. The $2.49 million on BSC has not moved, and additional wallets tied to the exchange could face similar action.