The Trump administration has prepared sanctions that would prohibit most transactions involving the International Criminal Court, according to reports citing U.S. officials and internal documents. The proposed measures would take effect following a six-to-seven-month wind-down period and would represent the first instance of Washington designating the court itself as an institution rather than limiting actions to individual personnel.

Background to the Escalation

The effort builds on Executive Order 14203, signed in February 2025, which declared a national emergency related to the court’s investigations involving American and Israeli nationals. That order authorized asset-blocking sanctions against designated persons. Tensions rose after the ICC issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant concerning alleged actions in Gaza. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction in the matter.

Prior steps have already targeted individual judges and prosecutors. The United States added ICC President Tomoko Akane to the sanctions list in August. Those personal designations resulted in closed bank accounts and cancelled credit cards for affected officials.

Because dollar-denominated payments routinely clear through U.S. correspondent banks, an institutional designation would extend beyond direct U.S. entities. Banks in other jurisdictions typically avoid sanctioned parties to preserve their own access to the dollar system. As a result, salaries, vendor payments, and operational costs denominated in any currency could face disruption.

Implications for Dollar Access and Stablecoins

Dollar stablecoins, which maintain a one-to-one peg with the U.S. currency, have been discussed as a possible alternative channel. However, regulatory requirements close off that path for sanctioned entities. A Treasury rule issued in April under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act requires permitted payment stablecoin issuers to maintain the technical capacity to block, freeze, and reject transactions. Issuers must also screen against the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list.

Market participants have already demonstrated compliance. In one recent action, Tether froze $344 million of its USDT tokens on the Tron network in coordination with OFAC authorities.

Similar enforcement has been applied to wallets linked to Iranian networks, and Washington has previously sanctioned entire digital-asset platforms accused of facilitating prohibited activity.

Limits of Other Cryptocurrencies

Assets without a central issuer, such as Bitcoin, cannot be frozen directly on their blockchains. Conversion into traditional currencies, however, generally requires regulated exchanges, banks, or other intermediaries. Those venues apply the same OFAC screening standards. The United States has shown readiness to sanction platforms connected to restricted financial networks, further constraining exit routes.

The ICC itself has not pursued cryptocurrency as a solution. Reports indicate the court is instead shifting its office software from Microsoft products to openDesk, an open-source platform developed for public-sector use in Germany, following earlier restrictions on commercial cloud and email services for some officials.

Current Status and Broader Context

As of the latest reports, OFAC has not yet designated the ICC as an institution, and the proposed sanctions remain in the preparatory stage. The U.S. dollar continued to account for 57.13 percent of allocated global central bank reserves in the first quarter of 2026, according to International Monetary Fund data. Any final measures would therefore operate against a backdrop of continued dollar dominance in international finance.

Practical effects on the court’s operations, and the degree to which alternative payment methods might mitigate them, will depend on the precise scope of the rules ultimately adopted.