The Trump administration has drafted ICC sanctions that would bar most transactions with the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US officials and documents.
The measures would follow a six to seven month wind down. It would be the first time Washington targets the court as an institution rather than its staff.
Why ICC Sanctions Already Reach the Court’s Bank Accounts
The campaign rests on Executive Order 14203, signed in February 2025, which declared a national emergency over the court’s investigations of American and Israeli nationals.
It followed the arrest warrants issued in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction.
The U.S. has since listed individual judges and prosecutors at the court in The Hague, adding President Tomoko Akane in August.
Those listings closed bank accounts and cancelled credit cards, the Associated Press reported.
“It’s the uncertainty. They are small annoyances, but they accumulate,” said Judge Kimberly Prost.
Dollar payments clear through US correspondent banks. Banks elsewhere avoid sanctioned parties to protect their own dollar access. An institutional listing would therefore reach salaries, vendors and witness costs paid in any currency.
What US Law Now Requires of Stablecoin Issuers
Dollar stablecoins are tokens pegged one for one to the dollar. That has made them the obvious escape route in theory.
However, the law closes this loophole. A Treasury rule issued in April under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act requires permitted issuers to hold the technical ability to block, freeze and reject transactions, and to screen against the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list.
Issuers were already doing it. Tether froze $344 million of USDT on the Tron network in April alongside OFAC, its largest single action.
“USD₮ is not a safe haven for illicit activity. When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively,” said Paolo Ardoino, chief executive of Tether.
The same tool has already enforced US policy on Iranian wallets. Washington also sanctioned two UK exchanges outright in February.
Bitcoin has no issuer and no freeze switch. Therefore, converting it into euros or dollars still runs through exchanges and banks, where regulated venues screen the same OFAC list.
Where the Court is Actually Looking for Cover
The court’s own hedge is software, not tokens. It is dropping Microsoft for openDesk, a German open source workplace platform built for public bodies, reports indicate.
OFAC has published no designation of the court itself. The dollar held 57.13% of allocated central bank reserves in the first quarter of 2026, IMF data shows, and the assets designed to sit outside it now answer to the same list.
So, can crypto fill the gap? No, and here are three reasons why:
- Permitted stablecoin issuers have no discretion.
The Treasury rule requires them to hold freeze, block and reject capability and to screen the OFAC list.
- Tokens with no issuer still need an exit.
Bitcoin cannot be frozen on chain, but regulated exchanges and banks screen the same list, and Washington has sanctioned entire platforms.
- The court has not turned to crypto.
Its reported response to being cut off has been open source software.
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