The United States is stepping up efforts to disrupt Iran’s financial networks, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicating that authorities could seize approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency within a week.
Speaking at the Newsmax Policy Summit on Thursday, Bessent said the government knew where the targeted assets were located and was working to isolate them. He described the planned action as part of Washington’s broader strategy to restrict Iran’s access to financial resources amid the military conflict that began in February.
Bessent did not specify which platforms or entities held the cryptocurrency, nor did he explain whether the seizures would involve cooperation from exchanges or interventions by stablecoin issuers.
The latest announcement follows previous US efforts to target digital asset networks allegedly connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In August, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against cryptocurrency exchanges accused of facilitating financial transfers linked to the organization.
At the time, Bessent said Washington intended to intensify economic pressure on Iran by targeting financial channels operating across traditional currencies and digital assets, including dollars, Iranian rials and cryptocurrencies.
The potential $1 billion seizure would add to earlier enforcement actions. In April, Bessent said US authorities had seized $500 million in cryptocurrency connected to Iran. Separately, stablecoin issuer Tether reported in September that it had frozen $550 million worth of USDT during 2026 in connection with US sanctions enforcement involving Iran. The company said $344 million of that amount was frozen in April alone.
The Treasury’s latest remarks underscore the growing role of cryptocurrency tracking and asset freezes in US sanctions enforcement. However, the precise scope of the newly targeted assets and the mechanisms authorities intend to use to seize them remain unclear.
