Central Bank of Iran Identified on Arkham: Track The State’s Crypto Holdings

Arkham Intel has successfully deanonymized the on-chain addresses belonging to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).

The conflict between US/Israel and Iran has been stuck in a fragile ceasefire since 8th April, with continuous periods of escalation and de-escalation. Long before the conflict had started, Iran was beginning to use and rely on blockchain infrastructure to bypass traditional financial channels and evade sanctions. Crypto has become a strategic necessity for the nation to maintain access to capital and fund proxy operations while under international sanctions.

Tether’s $344M Tron Freeze

The breakthrough in deanonymizing the CBI’s on-chain presence came after recent enforcement actions regarding the stablecoin USDT.

In April, Tether along with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and law enforcement agencies froze more than $344 million in USDT. These funds were held across two Tron addresses that US officials stated were linked to suspected sanctions evasion involving Iran. Based on this information, Arkham sleuths were able to dive deeper into the on-chain evidence and trace the broader network and identify the central state entity behind these crypto flows.

You can interact with the Central Bank of Iran’s Arkham entity page below:

Why This Entity Is Useful

It is likely that the Iranian government controls a vast network of other unidentified wallets, not to mention the state’s links to Iranian and Russian exchanges like Nobitex and Garantex. However, the addition of the Central Bank of Iran to the Arkham platform offers a good start for investigators looking to track the state's crypto movements.

Currently, this entity consists of just two addresses - the specific Tron wallets identified by OFAC and Tether. Because nearly all of the funds in these addresses are now frozen, they are no longer actively used to move liquidity.

However, they remain valuable for on-chain sleuths. By analyzing the patterns of these addresses, researchers and compliance monitors have an opportunity to study Iran’s custodial strategy and transaction techniques. Understanding how these funds were previously routed can help identify other, still-active wallets operating within the state's broader sanctions evasion network.

Iran’s Expanding Crypto Footprint

The on-chain deanonymization of the CBI is the latest story in Iran’s growing relationship with decentralized infrastructure. Earlier in the conflict, Arkham reported on Iran demanding shipping companies pay a Bitcoin toll to transit the Strait of Hormuz, using BTC because it is non-sovereign and difficult to confiscate.

We also tracked heavy outflows from Iranian crypto exchanges like Nobitex, which spiked aggressively in the hours after the launch of US/Israeli airstrikes as state-linked actors and retail users alike moved liquidity.

These stories are significant and increasingly drawing the attention of global regulators. Recently, the US Treasury demanded that Binance comply with strict monitoring guidelines following reports that the exchange processed $1 billion in Iranian transactions, highlighting the scale of the nation's crypto financial network.

You can explore the complete on-chain profile of the Central Bank of Iran on Arkham Intel here: https://intel.arkm.com/explorer/entity/central-bank-of-iran.