Treasury Secretary Bessent: U.S. Seized $1B Crypto From Iran

Seizure Details

Bessent said the U.S. has seized about $1 billion of Iran's crypto, describing the action bluntly. "Just outright grabbed the wallets," he told Kudlow. "Some of them may be typing in right now, and they might not have realized that their wallet had been grabbed."

The Treasury Secretary did not specify whether the seizures involved Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Bessent also didn't link the seizures to Iran's reported Bitcoin transit fee scheme, which the Financial Times reported in April would require oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz to pay fees in Bitcoin.

Iran's Crypto Moves

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps has promoted a Bitcoin-settled maritime insurance platform called Hormuz Safe, according to Fars, a state-affiliated Iranian news agency. An Iranian official told the Financial Times that transit fees in Bitcoin "can't be traced or confiscated due to sanctions."

The framing underscores how Iran views cryptocurrency as a workaround for U.S. financial sanctions. Yet the space remains messy. Scammers impersonating Iranian authorities have been targeting shipping companies with fraudulent payment demands in Bitcoin and Tether's USDT stablecoin, according to Reuters reporting in April.

Broader Context

Bessent's disclosure comes as the U.S. and Iran reportedly inch closer to a deal that could alleviate tension threatening global markets. Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing alleged last year that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps received $1.5 billion in Tether's USDT stablecoin, signaling the scale of cryptocurrency flows tied to sanctioned Iranian entities.

The seizures reflect the U.S. government's sweeping crackdown on Iran's government, which benefits from oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Bessent's public disclosure of the $1 billion figure marks a rare moment of transparency around U.S. crypto enforcement actions targeting state-level actors.