US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States will seize $1 billion of Iranian cryptocurrency this week, extending its sanctions campaign into digital assets. Bessent made the announcement at the Newsmax Policy Summit on Thursday.
“We know where it is, and we are isolating them,” Bessent told Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren.
He said the move forms part of a strategy to cut Iran off economically. The planned seizure is part of US sanctions imposed during Iran’s most recent military conflict, which began in February.
The type of cryptocurrency the US plans to seize has not been identified.
The Treasury Department had already moved against the networks used to transfer such assets. In August, its Office of Foreign Assets Control, known as OFAC, said it was targeting crypto exchanges that facilitated transfers of funds to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
At the time, Bessent said the US intended to “increase the economic pressure” on Iran by focusing on financial networks that fund the country’s regime “in dollars, rials, or crypto.”
Bessent said in an April interview that authorities had seized $500 million of cryptocurrency tied to Iran. Tether froze $344 million of USDt in April under US sanctions on Iran.
In September, the stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen $550 million worth of USDt (USDT) in 2026 as part of sanctions action by US authorities against Iran.
Bessent assumed the Treasury secretary’s role in January 2025. His responsibilities include maintaining a robust economy, fostering growth, managing government finances and addressing global economic threats.
Before entering government, Bessent spent four decades in global investment. He was chief investment officer at Soros Fund Management, where he achieved significant returns, including during the 1992 British Pound crisis, and founded the global macro investment firm Key Square Group. He is the first openly gay Treasury secretary.
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