US Treasury Plans $1B Crypto Seizure Linked to Iran This Week

crypto seizure — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced plans to seize approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran this week as part of ongoing sanctions enforcement.

Speaking at the Newsmax Policy Summit on Thursday, Bessent said the planned seizure is part of a strategy to economically isolate Iran amid its military conflict that began in February. “We know where it is, and we are isolating them,” Bessent told Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has been targeting crypto exchanges facilitating fund transfers to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In August, Bessent stated the U.S. planned to “increase the economic pressure” on Iran, focusing on financial networks funding the regime “in dollars, rials, or crypto.”

This follows previous enforcement actions, including a claim by Bessent in April that authorities had seized $500 million in crypto tied to Iran. Stablecoin issuer Tether reported in September that it had frozen $550 million worth of USDT in 2026 as part of U.S. sanctions on Iran.