Bessent Says US May Seize $1 Billion in Iran-Linked Cryptocurrency This Week
The US is moving to seize about $1 billion in cryptocurrency as it tightens sanctions on Iran.Cointelegraph reported on October 9 that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Newsmax Policy Summit there is a strong possibility the US will seize about $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran this week.In an interview with Newsmax anchor Greta Van Susteren, Bessent said the US has identified where the assets are and is isolating them. He described the effort as part of a strategy to cut Iran off economically. He did not disclose the exchanges involved or the entities holding the assets in custody. He also did not say whether the freeze would be carried out through stablecoin issuers.The US has continued to target financial networks with sanctions since military clashes with Iran began in February. In August, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control added cryptocurrency exchanges that supported fund transfers for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, to its sanctions list. At the time, Bessent said the US would intensify economic pressure on financial networks that supply the Iranian regime with funds in dollars, rials and cryptocurrencies.Seizures and freezes involving Iran-linked cryptocurrency have taken place before. Bessent said in an April interview that the US had seized $500 million in related digital assets.Tether also said in September that it had cooperated with US sanctions on Iran and frozen a total of $550 million worth of Tether, or USDT, this year. Of that amount, $344 million was frozen in April. It was not disclosed whether the assets Bessent referred to this time overlap with previously seized or frozen holdings.