- The United States is poised to confiscate approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency associated with Iran.
- This action is part of a broader strategy of sanctions against Iran designed to economically isolate the nation.
- So far this year, the US has already seized around $500 million and frozen $550 million in Tether.
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The United States is preparing to seize nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency as part of its ongoing sanctions against Iran.
On October 9, Cointelegraph reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed to the Newsmax Policy Summit that there is a high likelihood of the US confiscating this significant amount of cryptocurrency linked to Iran within the week.
During a discussion with Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren, Bessent indicated that the US has pinpointed the locations of these assets and is in the process of isolating them. He characterized this effort as a critical component of the strategy to economically disrupt Iran. However, he did not specify which exchanges or custodians are involved in holding these assets, nor did he clarify if the freeze would include stablecoin issuers.
Since the outbreak of military tensions with Iran in February, the US has ramped up its sanctions targeting financial networks. In August, the Office of Foreign Assets Control within the Treasury added cryptocurrency exchanges that facilitated fund transfers for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its list of sanctioned entities. Bessent noted at that time that the US would heighten the economic pressure on financial systems providing funding to the Iranian government in dollars, rials, and cryptocurrencies.
There have been previous instances of cryptocurrency seizures connected to Iran. Bessent mentioned in an April interview that the US had confiscated $500 million in related digital assets.
In September, Tether announced that it had complied with US sanctions against Iran by freezing $550 million worth of Tether (USDT) in 2023. Of this total, $344 million was frozen in April. It remains unclear whether the assets mentioned by Bessent overlap with those previously seized or frozen.