Key facts
- The U.S. Treasury Department's OFAC sanctioned 134 crypto wallet addresses linked to ISIS-K.
- Tether has frozen balances affiliated with 131 of these sanctioned Tron wallets.
- The sanctioned Tron wallets received over $1.4 million in cryptocurrency donations since 2023.
- ISIS-K's media arm solicited crypto donations via websites and messaging platforms.
- A separate action sanctioned a Brazil-linked network tied to the PCC criminal gang for laundering over $30 million in crypto.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned 134 cryptocurrency wallet addresses identified as belonging to ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), a designated global terrorist group. The addresses were added to OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list on Wednesday.
Stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen the balances associated with 131 of these addresses, which were located on the Tron network. The remaining three sanctioned addresses were on the Monero network, according to blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis. The Tron wallets received more than $1.4 million in cryptocurrency donations since 2023 and subsequently sent out more than $880,000.
ISIS-K has used its media arm, al-Azaim Media Foundation, to solicit crypto donations through websites and messaging platforms. Chainalysis identified donation addresses used by the group across the Tron, Monero, and Bitcoin networks.
In a separate action, OFAC also sanctioned a Brazil-linked network tied to Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), described as Latin America's largest criminal gang. This network laundered over $30 million in U.S.-generated illicit proceeds using crypto to move funds back to Brazil.