US plans to seize $1B in crypto linked to Iran this week: Scott Bessent

Speaking during an appearance at the Newsmax Policy Summit on Thursday, Bessent stated that the planned digital asset seizure forms a central component of sweeping US economic sanctions against Iran. These measures have intensified amid the country’s most recent military conflict, which escalated sharply in February. During his conversation with Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren, the Treasury Secretary did not specify whether the targeted digital assets were tied to specific centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, nor did he clarify whether the upcoming intervention involved direct cooperation or actions taken by stablecoin issuers.

"We know where it is, and we are isolating them," Bessent told Van Susteren, emphasizing that the enforcement action is designed to systematically cut off Iran from global financial liquidity. He reiterated that the move directly aligns with Washington’s broader geopolitical and economic strategy to choke off funding sources utilized by the Iranian regime.

The enforcement framework underpinning this week’s anticipated seizure builds upon previous actions taken by the US government. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced in August that it was actively targeting offshore and domestic cryptocurrency exchanges facilitating the transfer of illicit funds to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. At the time of that announcement, Bessent noted that the administration planned to continuously increase economic pressure on Iran, with a sharp focus on dismantling financial networks that fund the country’s regime, whether those transactions are denominated in traditional fiat currencies like US dollars or Iranian rials, or executed via decentralized digital assets and cryptocurrencies.

The scale of digital asset enforcement targeting Iran has grown substantially over the course of the year. Bessent previously made a comparable claim during an April television interview, revealing that US law enforcement and regulatory authorities had successfully seized roughly $500 million in cryptocurrency assets tied directly to Iranian operations. This high-volume tracking of illicit blockchain activity has relied heavily on cooperation from private-sector entities operating within the digital asset ecosystem.

Notably, major stablecoin issuer Tether reported in September that it had proactively frozen roughly $550 million worth of USDt throughout the year as part of ongoing compliance with US sanctions targeting Iran. That total included a massive single-month freeze of $344 million in April alone, illustrating the heavy reliance of illicit actors on dollar-pegged stablecoins and the corresponding visibility that blockchain analytics provide to global regulators and law enforcement agencies.

As the situation develops, the Treasury Department is expected to maintain its rigorous oversight of digital asset platforms to prevent sanctioned entities from circumventing traditional banking restrictions through blockchain networks.