U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said authorities have located about $1 billion in Iran-linked cryptocurrency that they could seize this week as Washington presses ahead with financial restrictions against Tehran.
Summary
Bessent said U.S. authorities could seize $1 billion in Iran-linked cryptocurrency during the week.
Treasury sanctioned 17 vessels on Oct. 8 over alleged shipments of Iranian petroleum products.
Tether reported approximately $550 million in Iran-linked USDT freezes during 2026.
Chainalysis estimated Iran’s cryptocurrency ecosystem handled more than $7.78 billion in activity during 2025.
Scott Bessent said at Newsmax’s NPolicy Summit in Washington on Oct. 8 that officials knew where the cryptocurrency was held and were working to isolate the assets.
“We’re probably gonna seize a billion dollars of crypto this week,” he said.
During the interview with Greta Van Susteren, the Treasury secretary described Washington’s approach as an “absolute isolation campaign,” encompassing financial restrictions, maritime controls and limits on international travel.
According to The Block’s report, Bessent did not establish whether the targeted $1 billion would be additional to amounts previously announced by U.S. authorities. His latest remarks described a possible seizure rather than a completed transfer of the assets into government custody.
Iran-linked crypto has faced earlier wallet freezes
As crypto.news reported on Sep. 28, Tether put its Iran-linked USDT freezes for 2026 at approximately $550 million, citing cooperation with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and U.S. law enforcement.
In Tether’s account, more than $344 million was frozen across two addresses in April after U.S. authorities supplied information about the wallets. The company said OFAC added the addresses to the Central Bank of Iran’s sanctions entry the following day.
For July, the issuer reported more than $130 million frozen across four additional TRON wallets as Treasury added the addresses to the central bank’s designation.
Under the freezing policy described by Tether, blocked USDT cannot move from the affected addresses. September court filings described a separate U.S. effort to forfeit $61.2 million in USDT across ten TRON addresses that Tether had frozen in 2025.
According to those filings, a Sep. 14 warrant authorized the FBI to take custody of the tokens, while the civil forfeiture complaint sought government ownership. Prosecutors associated the funds with alleged Iranian oil proceeds.
Treasury sanctions have reached exchanges and foreign firms
In coverage published Sep. 3, Bessent identified digital assets as targets for possible further restrictions alongside airlines and maritime businesses, according to Reuters’ account of his remarks.
Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast on Aug. 24, extending sanctions authority over Iran’s digital asset sector and other parts of its economy. The department said the measures could reach foreign people and companies operating in or supporting the covered sectors.