US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the United States planned to seize approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran this week, according to remarks made at the Newsmax NPolicy Summit on Thursday.
Bessent characterized the seizure as part of broader US sanctions on Iran amid the country's military conflict that began in February. "We know where it is, and we are isolating them," Bessent told Newsmax's Greta Van Susteren, describing the move as part of a strategy to economically isolate Iran.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has been actively targeting cryptocurrency exchanges that facilitate fund transfers to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In August, OFAC announced this enforcement focus, with Bessent stating at the time that the US intended to "increase the economic pressure" on Iran by targeting financial networks funding the country's regime through dollars, rials, and cryptocurrency.
Bessent did not specify whether the targeted digital assets were held on specific exchanges or resulted from intervention by stablecoin issuers. However, stablecoin issuer Tether reported in September that it had frozen $550 million worth of USDT in 2026 as part of US authorities' sanctions on Iran, including $344 million frozen in April alone.
This announcement follows an April statement from Bessent in which he claimed US authorities had seized $500 million in cryptocurrency tied to Iran.
