The U.S. Treasury Department has intensified its crackdown on financial networks linked to terrorist organizations, sanctioning multiple cryptocurrency addresses associated with the Yemen-based Houthi movement.
The action targets eight digital wallets allegedly used to facilitate arms procurement and evade international sanctions.
According to data from blockchain forensic firms Chainalysis and TRM Labs, six private wallets and two deposit addresses at mainstream crypto services have processed nearly $1 billion in illicit transactions. A significant portion of these funds reportedly supported Houthi activities in Yemen and the Red Sea region.
The Houthi movement in Yemen used cryptocurrency mining as part of their financial strategies amid the ongoing civil conflict. Evidence suggests that the Houthis have been mining decentralized cryptocurrencies since 2017.
Further investigations revealed that over $45 million flowed through Garantex, a Russia-based cryptocurrency exchange previously flagged by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for enabling terrorist financing. The exchange announced its closure in early March, coinciding with Tether’s decision to blacklist nearly $30 million in stablecoins linked to illicit activity. However, reports suggest that Garantex has since resurfaced under the name Grinex, transferring assets and users to the new platform.
The crackdown follows the arrest of Aleksej Besciokov, Garantex’s co-founder, by Indian authorities in March. The arrest came after an Indian court issued a warrant against him, though the extent of Garantex’s disruption remains uncertain.
TRM Labs has also identified millions of dollars flowing between other high-risk and OFAC-sanctioned entities, including the Iran-based financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal, who is known to have ties to both the Houthis and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.
The latest sanctions come after U.S. President Donald Trump re-designated the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, as a foreign terrorist organization in late January. Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the move, stating that the group’s actions directly threaten American personnel, regional allies, and global maritime trade security.
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