US Frozen Assets List 2026 | Countries, Valuation, Entities, Blocked Property and Key Facts

The United States currently blocks tens of billions of dollars in foreign government property under Treasury sanctions, led by roughly $8 billion tied to Venezuela’s Citgo parent, $7 billion in Afghan central bank reserves, and billions more linked to Russia. OFAC enforces these freezes through the Specially Designated Nationals list under authority granted by IEEPA.

US Frozen Assets List 2026 – Introduction

The US Frozen Assets List 2026 covers a patchwork of sanctions programs that block foreign governments, banks and individuals from touching property inside American jurisdiction. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) runs the system. When a country, bank or person lands on the Specially Designated Nationals list, any account, building or security they hold that a US person controls gets frozen in place. Title stays with the owner. Access does not.

Few years have moved this list as much as 2026. Venezuela’s Citgo parent went through an $8 billion court-ordered sale. Afghanistan’s central bank reserves remain split between a humanitarian fund and 9/11 victims’ litigation. Syria’s three-decade sanctions program was terminated outright in July 2025, only for individual holdouts tied to the former Assad government to stay blocked. This report walks through the countries, the entities and the specific dollar figures behind the US Frozen Assets List 2026, using the most recent verified numbers as of September 29, 2026.

Interesting Facts About the US Frozen Assets List 2026

BLOCKED PROPERTY BY COUNTRY (billions of dollars)
Venezuela   | ████████ 8.0
Afghanistan | ███████ 7.0
Russia      | ██████ 6.3
Iran        | ██ 2.0

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury; OFAC recent actions bulletin; Congressional Research Service; Reuters and court filings, 2025–2026.

The chart lines up the four largest country-specific cases still active in 2026. Venezuela tops the list at $8.0 billion, driven by the Citgo parent sale, followed by Afghanistan’s $7.0 billion in central bank reserves and a combined $6.3 billion tied to Russian sovereign and oligarch holdings. Iran’s $2.0 billion in blocked New York bond proceeds — the subject of a 2016 Supreme Court ruling — rounds out the top four, a figure most coverage of Iran sanctions overlooks in favor of the much larger worldwide claim Tehran makes across dozens of countries.

The table shows the legal machinery behind every figure. OFAC blocks property under IEEPA, and anyone holding blocked funds must report them within 10 business days. Cuba’s case has run since 1963, making it the oldest active freeze on the list, while Syria’s abrupt removal in 2025 shows how fast a sanctions program can unwind once the political trigger disappears.

Countries Facing US Asset Freezes in 2026: Top 10 by Dollar Value

TOP 10 COUNTRIES BY US-BLOCKED ASSETS (millions of dollars)
Venezuela     | ████████████████████████████████████████ 8,000
Afghanistan   | ███████████████████████████████████ 7,000
Russia        | █████████████████████████████████ 6,300
Iran          | ████████ 2,000
Libya         | ▊ 200*
Cuba          | ▌ 244
Syria         | ▍ 100*
North Korea   | ▌ 18
Sudan         | ▌ 12
Iraq          | ▌ 8

* Estimated residual; not separately itemized by OFAC (see notes below table)

Source: U.S. Treasury/OFAC blocked-property filings and Terrorist Assets Report (most recently itemized by country in the Calendar Year 2015 edition); Delaware court records on the Citgo sale; Congressional Research Service reporting on Afghan reserves and the Bank Markazi case; Supreme Court and Second Circuit filings in Bank Markazi v. Peterson; Reuters and Financial Times reporting on Russian central bank holdings; The Sentry and International Crisis Group reporting on the Libyan Investment Authority, 2022–2026.

Venezuela’s $8.0 billion figure comes from a single, recent transaction rather than decades of accumulated deposits. A Delaware court approved Amber Energy’s roughly $5.9 billion cash bid plus a $2.1 billion bondholder settlement for PDV Holding, Citgo’s US parent, after PDVSA sat on the SDN list since January 2019. Afghanistan’s $7.0 billion has stayed essentially unchanged since August 2021, split evenly between a Swiss-based humanitarian fund and assets contested by 9/11 victims’ families in US courts.

Iran’s $2.0 billion is the corrected figure for this report: it is not diplomatic real estate, but bond proceeds that Iran’s central bank, Bank Markazi, held in a New York account via intermediaries Clearstream and Citibank. The 2016 Supreme Court decision in Bank Markazi v. Peterson cleared the way for roughly 1,000 American victims of Iran-linked terrorist attacks to pursue the funds, and litigation over the exact payout has continued since. This is separate from the $100 billion-plus Iran claims is frozen worldwide across dozens of countries’ banking systems — that figure spans assets the US does not hold or control. Russia’s $6.3 billion blends two different mechanisms: an estimated $5 billion in central bank reserves immobilized inside US jurisdiction since February 2022, plus roughly $1.3 billion in oligarch yachts, aircraft and real estate seized or pending forfeiture under sanctions enforcement before the Justice Department disbanded its Task Force KleptoCapture in 2025.

The bottom half of the table needs a caveat: OFAC has not published a full country-by-country blocked-property breakdown since its Calendar Year 2015 Terrorist Assets Report, so Cuba’s $243.5 million is that report’s last itemized figure, not a live 2026 total — dozens of new individual and entity designations have been added under Executive Order 14404 since May 2026, but OFAC has not restated an aggregate. Libya’s entry reflects a similar limitation: the original 2011 freeze blocked over $32 billion, but Treasury released the bulk of it that same year, and most of what remains under UN and US sanctions today — out of the Libyan Investment Authority’s roughly $70 billion in global holdings — sits in Europe, particularly Belgium and Germany, not the United States. Syria’s post-2025 balance is likewise unpublished in aggregate, since the sanctions program that once blocked hundreds of millions of dollars was formally terminated rather than wound down account by account.

Venezuela Frozen Assets 2026: The Citgo Case in Detail

CITGO/PDV HOLDING SALE BREAKDOWN (billions of dollars)
Amber Energy cash bid        | ██████ 5.9
Bondholder settlement (TSA)  | ██ 2.1
Rival Gold Reserve bid       | ████████ 7.9

Source: Delaware federal court filings; venezuelainvestor.com case tracking; Fortune and Reuters reporting on the Citgo auction, 2025–2026.

The chart shows why the Amber Energy bid won despite not offering the highest headline number. Its $5.9 billion cash component sat below the rival Gold Reserve subsidiary’s $7.9 billion offer, but the court-appointed adviser favored Amber’s certainty of closing and the value of the attached $2.1 billion Transition Services Agreement, which settles claims tied to defaulted PDVSA 2020 bonds secured by half of Citgo.

PDVSA has been SDN-designated since January 28, 2019, freezing its four-layer US corporate chain down to PDV Holding, Citgo Holding and Citgo Petroleum. Venezuelan officials call the price too low, citing a May 2026 valuation above $15 billion based on refining margins that widened after regional fuel-price shocks. The sale still needs final OFAC licensing, and Washington’s broader posture toward Venezuela shifted sharply after President Trump’s January 2026 capture of Nicolás Maduro, which the administration says it will use to reshape the country’s oil sector before any transition.

Afghanistan and Russia Frozen Assets 2026: The Two Central Bank Cases

CENTRAL BANK RESERVES BLOCKED IN THE US (billions of dollars)
Afghanistan (Da Afghanistan Bank)   | ███████ 7.0
Russia (Central Bank reserves)      | █████ 5.0

Source: Congressional Research Service (Afghanistan Central Bank Reserves); Congress.gov CRS product IN12532 on Russia’s Central Bank Assets; Financial Times reporting on the US share of frozen Russian reserves.

Afghanistan’s $7.0 billion traces to a single event: the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover, after which Treasury froze Da Afghanistan Bank’s deposits at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. President Biden split the money in September 2022, sending half to the Switzerland-based Afghan Fund for currency stability and humanitarian use, while the other half remains tied up in litigation from Havlish plaintiffs and other 9/11 victims’ families seeking a default judgment against the Taliban.

Russia’s case works on a different scale entirely. Most of the roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets sits in Europe, with the US holding a comparatively small $5 billion share. Congress passed the REPO Act in 2024 to let the White House work with allies on using the interest from these reserves, and the G7 finalized $50 billion in Ukraine loans backed by that income, with the US committing $20 billion of the total. Russia’s other trade exposure runs through the ongoing tariff and trade-truce dynamics with China that both track sanctions pressure, where a similar test of Washington’s tolerance for partial compliance is playing out.

Blocked Property Entities 2026: Beyond Sovereign Governments

US BLOCKED PROPERTY BY ENTITY TYPE (illustrative share of active cases, percent)
Government/central bank entities | ████████████████████████████████████ 55
State-owned companies            | ████████████████████████ 30
Sanctioned individuals           | ███████████ 15

Source: OFAC Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List; U.S. Treasury press releases, 2019–2026.

More than half of the dollar value on the US Frozen Assets List 2026 sits with government and central bank entities rather than individuals, since a single central bank freeze like Afghanistan’s or Russia’s dwarfs almost any individual SDN case. State-owned companies make up the next largest share, led by PDVSA’s Citgo chain, which alone accounts for the single biggest blocked-property transaction of the decade.

Individually sanctioned people make up the smallest dollar share but the largest number of cases, since OFAC adds new individual and entity designations most weeks of the year. The Justice Department’s now-closed Task Force KleptoCapture forfeited about $170 million in Russian oligarch assets outright, with another $450 million still working through litigation as of 2024, before the Bondi Justice Department redirected those resources toward cartel enforcement in February 2025. Cuba, Iran and North Korea’s small but stubborn balances sit inside a wider embargo structure covered in this breakdown of state sponsors of terrorism statistics, which tracks how those designations interact with OFAC’s blocking authority.

Sanctions Relief 2026: Why Syria Dropped Off the Frozen Assets List

SYRIA SANCTIONS TIMELINE (2025-2026)
Dec 2024: Assad government falls        | ██████
May 2025: OFAC General License 25       | ████████
Jun 30 2025: Comprehensive program ends | ██████████
Aug 2026: State sponsor label rescinded | ████

Source: OFAC Syria sanctions FAQs; Arnold & Porter and Paul, Weiss client advisories, 2025–2026.

Syria is the clearest case of a country moving off the US Frozen Assets List rather than onto it. After the Assad government fell in December 2024, Treasury moved in stages: a humanitarian general license in January 2025, a broader suspension in May, and full termination of the sanctions program on June 30, 2025. Roughly 518 individuals and entities came off the SDN list at once, unblocking their US-held property.

The relief has limits. Bashar al-Assad himself, his family and close associates remain blocked under separate authorities, along with human rights abusers, captagon traffickers and Iran-linked proxies. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent framed the move as reconnecting Syria’s economy to global commerce, but pending OFAC investigations into pre-July 2025 violations can still proceed. The State Department’s rescission of Syria’s state sponsor of terrorism label in August 2026 closed out the last major legal designation tied to the Assad era.

Frequently Asked Questions About the US Frozen Assets List 2026

What is the US Frozen Assets List 2026?

It refers to the countries, entities and individuals whose property inside US jurisdiction is currently blocked under Treasury sanctions, enforced by OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals list.

Which country has the most assets frozen by the US in 2026?

Venezuela leads with about $8.0 billion, tied to the court-approved sale of Citgo’s parent company, PDV Holding.

How much of Afghanistan’s money is still frozen in the US?

About $7.0 billion in Da Afghanistan Bank reserves remains blocked, split evenly between the Afghan Fund and assets contested in 9/11 victims’ litigation.

How much Russian money does the US hold frozen?

The US holds roughly $5 billion of Russia’s central bank reserves directly, a small share of the $300 billion frozen globally, mostly in Europe. Additional oligarch-linked assets add a further $1.3 billion or so.

What does it mean when an asset is “blocked” versus “frozen”?

OFAC uses “blocked” as the legal term. Title to the property stays with the owner, but they cannot access, transfer or sell it without a Treasury license. “Frozen” is used interchangeably in casual usage.

Can frozen assets ever be released?

Yes. Release usually requires an OFAC license, removal from the SDN list, or a change in the underlying sanctions program, as happened with Syria in 2025 and with Libya’s central bank assets in 2011.

Is Iran’s frozen-asset total really over $100 billion?

Iranian officials claim more than $100 billion is inaccessible worldwide across many countries’ banking systems, court judgments and legal disputes. The amount specifically blocked under direct US jurisdiction is much smaller but still substantial: about $2.0 billion in Bank Markazi bond proceeds held in New York, the subject of the 2016 Bank Markazi v. Peterson Supreme Court case.

Did the US freeze Nicolás Maduro’s personal assets?

Switzerland froze assets tied to Maduro and 37 associates for four years after his January 2026 capture by US forces. The US had already sanctioned Maduro-linked individuals and entities for years before that operation.

What happened to Citgo’s ownership in 2026?

A Delaware court approved Amber Energy’s roughly $8 billion combined bid for Citgo’s parent, PDV Holding, in November 2025, though the sale still requires final OFAC licensing before it closes.

Why did Syria’s sanctions get lifted in 2025?

The Assad government’s fall in December 2024 removed the political basis for the 46-year-old sanctions program. Treasury eased restrictions in stages before terminating the comprehensive program on June 30, 2025.

Who enforces US asset freezes?

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers the Specially Designated Nationals list and blocking programs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

How is North Korea’s frozen-asset total so small compared to Russia’s?

North Korea’s blocked balance reflects decades-old bank deposits under narrow sanctions authorities, while Russia’s reflects a 2022 central bank freeze covering hundreds of billions of dollars in reserves built up over years of oil and gas exports.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.

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