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U.S. Targets $1 Billion Iran-Linked Crypto Seizure, Bessent Says
Treasury chief ties planned action to broader economic isolation campaign
TL;DR
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. will “probably” seize $1 billion in crypto tied to Iran this week.
- Bessent said U.S. authorities know where the assets are and linked the planned seizure to an “absolute isolation campaign.”
- The move follows earlier Iran-linked crypto seizures, wallet freezes and sanctions against seven Iranian exchanges since June.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States will “probably” seize $1 billion in cryptocurrency tied to Iran this week as the Trump administration expands an economic isolation campaign against the country. The planned action comes after months of U.S. sanctions, seizures and freezes involving Iran-linked digital assets and crypto exchanges. Bessent did not say whether the new target is separate from previously announced seizures.
“We’re probably gonna seize a billion dollars of crypto this week,” Bessent told Greta Van Susteren at Newsmax’s NPolicy Summit in Washington on Thursday. “We know where it is and we are isolating them.”
His remarks said the seizure was connected to U.S. sanctions during Iran’s most recent military conflict, which started in February. Bessent did not clarify whether the targeted assets were held by specific exchanges or whether stablecoin issuers would be involved in the action.
Bessent described the broader policy as an “absolute isolation campaign” that includes Strait of Hormuz blockades, restrictions on international flights and efforts to close Iran’s land routes with neighboring countries.
“We did have a maximum pressure campaign. Now we have an absolute isolation campaign, and it’s working,” he said.
Bessent characterized the crypto action as part of the same effort to cut Iran off economically.
Earlier Iran-linked crypto seizures and freezes
Previous U.S. actions have produced several different seizure and freeze figures, with statements from Bessent, Treasury and Tether referring to separate actions or estimates.
U.S. sanctions expand to Iranian crypto exchanges
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in August that it was targeting crypto exchanges facilitating transfers to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Bessent said the U.S. planned to “increase the economic pressure” on Iran by focusing on financial networks funding the regime “in dollars, rials, or crypto.”
U.S. sanctions have also targeted seven Iranian crypto exchanges since June. Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex were sanctioned that month, followed by Shelbit and Aban Tether in August.
BitBank was targeted in September over allegations that it moved hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin (BTC) to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps between June and July. Bessent’s latest comments did not clarify whether the assets now targeted are additional to the amounts previously announced.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
