US Treasury to Seize $1B in Crypto Tied to Iran Sanctions: Bessent

The US Treasury Department is preparing to seize approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran as part of its ongoing sanctions enforcement, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Speaking at the Newsmax Policy Summit on Thursday, Bessent confirmed the imminent action, stating, "We are probably gonna seize a billion dollars of crypto this week." He did not specify whether the digital assets were tied to specific exchanges or resulted from coordination with stablecoin issuers, but emphasized, "We know where it is, and we are isolating them."

The planned seizure comes amid heightened US sanctions on Iran following the military conflict that began in February. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced in August that it was targeting crypto exchanges facilitating fund transfers to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Bessent previously stated that the US intended to "increase the economic pressure" on Iran by targeting financial networks funding the regime "in dollars, rials, or crypto."

In April, Bessent claimed authorities had already seized $500 million in crypto tied to Iran. Stablecoin issuer Tether reported in September that it had frozen $550 million worth of USDT (USDT) in 2026 as part of US sanctions on Iran, including $344 million frozen in April alone. These coordinated efforts between federal agencies and stablecoin issuers reflect a broader strategy of using digital asset controls as a tool of economic statecraft against sanctioned nations, paralleling similar UK actions against three crypto exchanges linked to Russian illicit funds.