US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the US could seize $1 billion in crypto linked to Iran this week. However, no wallet or holder has been publicly identified, and the government has not specified whether this amount is in addition to the seizures announced since April.
In brief
- The United States could seize $1 billion in crypto linked to Iran, according to Scott Bessent.
- Washington claims to have located the funds, without revealing the wallets involved or confirming their seizure.
- The amount announced remains uncertain, particularly compared to previous American operations.
- Freezing cryptos does not mean confiscating them, which requires a separate legal procedure.
- Iranian crypto platforms are under increasing pressure, within the framework of American sanctions against Tehran.
Washington says it has located Iranian cryptos
Scott Bessent presented the operation at the Newsmax Policy Summit, organized Thursday in Washington. According to him, it is part of a campaign intended to cut off the sources of financing of Iranian power.
The Treasury Secretary said:
We’re probably going to grab a billion dollars worth of crypto this week.
“We know where they are and we isolate them”did he addedwithout providing blockchain addresses or specifying the nature of the assets.
The available information leaves several open questions:
- The amount announced reaches approximately one billion dollars;
- The targeted portfolios have not been communicated;
- The possible role of exchanges or issuers of stablecoins remains unknown;
- No seizure of this new amount has yet been officially confirmed;
- Scott Bessent did not indicate whether the sum is in addition to previous operations;
- Assets could be frozen before legal confiscation proceedings.
The US official describes a campaign of absolute isolation that extends beyond cryptos. It also includes trade, financial, air and maritime restrictions imposed in the context of the conflict with Iran.
A seizure differs from a freeze under sanctions
An Office of Foreign Assets Control sanction does not automatically transfer ownership of an asset to the U.S. government. It generally imposes the blocking of funds under American jurisdiction and prohibits American persons or companies from making them available to the targeted entity.
A stablecoin issuer can also blacklist certain tokens. The assets then remain visible on their address, but their holder can no longer transfer them. This technical freezing does not necessarily constitute a definitive confiscation for the benefit of the State.
Seizure involves authorities taking control of assets pursuant to a warrant or other judicial authorization. Final confiscation normally occurs after a procedure during which the government must establish the link between the funds and an offense.
This distinction counts towards the billion mentioned by Scott Bessent. His remarks announce a probable operation, but do not yet make it possible to know whether the funds are already blocked, placed under American control or only localized.
Previous figures remain difficult to reconcile
In April, Scott Bessent announced the seizure of nearly $500 million in crypto linked to Iran. A month later, he raised that estimate to around $1 billion, saying authorities had “directly took control of the portfolios”.
Public documents have not established a complete list to reconcile these declarations with the assets actually seized. The new billion could therefore represent an additional sum, a new step targeting the same funds or an updated estimate.
Tether said it has frozen around $550 million in USDT in 2026 as part of US sanctions against Iran. This total includes nearly $344 million blocked in April. Funds frozen by the issuer should not, however, be automatically counted as assets confiscated by Washington.
In July, U.S. sanctions led to the freezing of about $130 million more. On-chain analysts linked this measurement to four Tron addresses that held nearly $131 million in USDT.
Iranian exchanges at the center of American pressure
The US Treasury has sanctioned seven Iranian crypto platforms since June. Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex were targeted first, before Shelbit and Aban Tether in August, then BitBank in September.
Washington accuses these companies of having facilitated the evasion of sanctions or the financing of the Revolutionary Guards. BitBank allegedly transferred several hundred million dollars in bitcoins to this organization between June and July. These statements come from US authorities and do not all constitute final legal decisions.
A separate procedure shows the necessary legal journey. In September, the Justice Department sought civil forfeiture of $61 million in crypto allegedly derived from clandestine Iranian oil sales, according to its complaint. The affected network is said to have processed more than $1.5 billion.
The ministry itself points out that a complaint for confiscation only constitutes an allegation until a court has ruled. This caution also applies to the new announcement: Washington claims to have located the funds, but the seizure of the billion remains to be confirmed by identifiable official acts.
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