Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US may move to confiscate $1 billion in cryptocurrency connected to Iran within days, according to remarks at the Newsmax NPolicy Summit on October 9.
Bessent did not identify specific wallets or assets but indicated the seizure was imminent. The announcement comes as the Treasury Department has begun using secondary sanctions and asset-freezing authority to restrict Tehran's access to cryptocurrency markets and financial infrastructure.
The Treasury has previously moved against Iran-linked crypto holdings. In May 2026, the department announced plans to seize what it initially described as $1 billion in assets but later corrected that figure to $500 million following internal review. The actual mechanics of crypto seizure remain opaque to the public: the Treasury does not typically disclose whether it seizes private keys, forces exchange compliance through sanctions orders, or pursues court-ordered asset forfeiture.
Iran has increasingly turned to cryptocurrency as a means to circumvent international sanctions imposed after its 2019 withdrawal from the nuclear deal. The country's oil exports have been severely restricted, limiting access to dollar-denominated banking. Crypto transactions offer a potential avenue to move value across borders, though most major exchanges comply with US sanctions designations and block Iranian users.
Bessent framed the prospective seizure as part of a broader financial pressure campaign. The Treasury Department has designated multiple Iranian entities and individuals connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and has expanded its monitoring of on-chain activity to detect Iranian state wallet movements. The department has not released technical details on how it identifies Iran-linked addresses or proves ownership attribution.
The $1 billion figure, if confirmed after seizure, would be the largest single US crypto forfeiture tied to a state actor. Previous high-profile seizures have included ransomware proceeds and sanctions evasion but have not approached this scale in connection with a sovereign nation's holdings.
Bessent's statement came without a formal Treasury release or filing, leaving the specific timing, methodology, and legal authority for the seizure unclear. The number to watch is whether the Treasury executes the confiscation within the stated timeframe and whether it files a public forfeiture action or announces the seizure post-hoc.
