On-chain analysis questions US accusations of "Iranian crypto assets": some seized wallets may be linked to other country actors

BlockBeats news, May 3. Nominis analysis says that some “Iran-related” crypto wallets recently seized and frozen by the US OFAC may not conform to the on-chain behavioral patterns of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the past; instead, it may involve other state-level actors behind the scenes. Previously, the US Treasury Department said that in the course of “Operation Economic Fury,” more than $340 million, totaling nearly $500 million, in Iran-related crypto assets had been frozen.

Nominis CEO Snir Levi said that historically, IRGC-related wallets typically disperse funds across multiple addresses, keep balances in each single wallet relatively low, avoid long-term holdings, and reduce the risk of being frozen through complex operations; however, the wallets that were seized this time show clear differences in terms of fund structure and behavior patterns. He believes this raises a key question: out of the frozen $340 million in assets, how much is directly controlled by the IRGC, and how much involves broader infrastructure that may even overlap with other countries’ financial networks.

Levi also pointed out that organizations, including the IRGC and potential Chinese state-level actors, are continuously upgrading how they use blockchain infrastructure. Traditional static risk-control labels are no longer sufficient; behavioral analysis and address clustering are becoming increasingly critical.