U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says American authorities have identified around $1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran that they could seize this week as Washington increases pressure on Tehran.
Speaking at Newsmax’s NPolicy Summit in Washington on Oct. 8, Bessent said officials knew where the assets were held and were working to isolate them.
“We’re probably gonna seize a billion dollars of crypto this week,” he said.
Bessent described the wider strategy as an “absolute isolation campaign,” involving financial sanctions, restrictions on maritime activity and limits on international travel.
However, he did not confirm whether the targeted $1 billion would be separate from cryptocurrency previously frozen or targeted by U.S. authorities. His comments described a possible seizure, not a completed transfer of the funds into government custody.
Tether has frozen around $550 million in Iran-linked USDT
Iran-linked cryptocurrency has already faced several enforcement actions. Tether reported that it had frozen approximately $550 million in USDT connected to Iran during 2026, working with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and law enforcement agencies.
In April, Tether said it froze more than $344 million across two addresses after receiving information from U.S. authorities. OFAC added the addresses to the sanctions designation for Iran’s central bank the following day.
In July, Tether reported freezing more than $130 million across four additional TRON wallets after Treasury designated the addresses.
When Tether freezes an address, the affected USDT cannot be transferred from that wallet.
Separately, U.S. authorities have pursued the forfeiture of $61.2 million in USDT across ten TRON addresses that Tether froze in 2025. Court filings linked the funds to alleged Iranian oil proceeds.
According to the filings, a warrant issued on Sept. 14 authorized the FBI to take custody of the tokens. The civil forfeiture case seeks to transfer ownership to the U.S. government.
U.S. sanctions increasingly target Iran’s crypto networks
Washington has expanded its restrictions beyond traditional banking and oil shipments to include cryptocurrency exchanges, digital asset transactions and companies accused of helping Iran move money.
On Aug. 24, Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast, extending sanctions pressure across Iran’s digital asset sector and other parts of its economy.
Treasury has also accused Russian national Yuri Obukhov of processing more than $100 million in cryptocurrency connected to Iranian oil sales since 2023. Officials alleged that he worked with a network linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to convert oil revenue into digital assets.
Earlier, OFAC sanctioned Iranian crypto exchanges Shelbit and Aban Tether, along with Iranian national Siavash Kayvanpour and companies associated with him.
Treasury alleged that IRGC-linked wallets sent more than $1 million to Shelbit addresses and that wallets associated with Shelbit transferred over $2 million to IRGC-controlled addresses. It also alleged that wallets controlled by Kayvanpour sent more than $2 million to Nobitex.
Under U.S. sanctions rules, American individuals and businesses generally cannot provide funds or services to designated parties without authorization. Restrictions can also apply to companies that are at least 50% owned by blocked persons, even when those companies are not named separately.
Treasury sanctions 17 vessels over Iranian oil shipments
On Oct. 8, Treasury announced sanctions against 17 vessels accused of transporting millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and petrochemicals to markets in South and East Asia.
The department said the vessels used registrations across more than a dozen jurisdictions and relied on international front companies to support their operations.
The measures were imposed under Executive Order 13902, which covers Iran’s petroleum sector and other industries.
Treasury also warned foreign companies that helping Iran launder money or evade sanctions could put their access to the U.S. financial system at risk.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said on Oct. 8 that the United States would not attack Iran before the Nov. 3 congressional midterm elections. He described discussions with Tehran as productive, according to Reuters.
Researchers estimate billions in Iran-linked crypto activity
Blockchain analytics firms have identified billions of dollars in cryptocurrency activity connected to Iran.
Chainalysis estimated that Iran’s cryptocurrency ecosystem handled more than $7.78 billion in activity during 2025. The firm said addresses associated with the IRGC accounted for more than half of the value received by the identified network during the fourth quarter.
Across the full year, those addresses received more than $3 billion, compared with over $2 billion in 2024.
Chainalysis cautioned that its figures represent minimum estimates based on addresses it could identify. The actual amount could be higher because some connected wallets and intermediaries have not been attributed.
TRM Labs separately identified more than $3.84 billion in blockchain flows between CoinEx and Iranian entities over a period of more than seven years. Its research also found approximately 6.2 million transfers worth $2.7 billion between CoinEx and Nobitex.
From June 2025 through June 2026, TRM traced around $67 million moving from the Central Bank of Iran to CoinEx addresses across multiple blockchains.
CoinEx has denied having ties to the Iranian state and disputed interpretations of the transaction data. The exchange said it had no commercial relationship with Iranian government-linked entities, domestic exchanges, the IRGC or sanctioned parties.
The company said it had strengthened compliance measures, restricted registrations from Iranian regions and introduced procedures for identified accounts to exit its platform. It also cited expanded geographic controls, sanctions screening and transaction monitoring.
The latest developments show that Washington is increasingly using cryptocurrency tracking and asset freezes as part of its broader sanctions strategy against Iran. Although Bessent has identified a possible $1 billion seizure, the amount remains a target rather than a confirmed recovery of funds by the U.S. government.
