On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US has confiscated around $1 billion worth of Iranian cryptocurrency. He also mentioned that some of the wallet owners may not even be aware that their funds has been confiscated. “I believe that we have seized about a billion dollars of their crypto”, Bessent said during his speech at the Reagan National Economic Forum.
According to Bessent, the seizures are a component of Operation Economic Fury, the United States’ strategy to put financial pressure on Iran. The operation, which began in March 2025 and has since seized crypto, frozen bank accounts, and collaborated with European partners to confiscate properties, has targeted Iranian assets on numerous fronts.
Intensifying Financial Pressure
Before the United States interfered, the regime was allegedly stealing $400–$500 million per month and distributing the money around 80 or so elites, according to the Treasury secretary.
According to him, the Iranian economy is in shambles, with food coupons being handed out, the internet down, and 40 to 50% of the Iranian military being unpaid. Regarding the current talks with Iran, Bessent said that it is difficult to work with a divided leadership structure because of the attacks on key regime members by the US and Israel.
The newly revealed $1 billion figure is significantly higher than the $344 million in cryptocurrency that was frozen after the US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iran-linked wallets on April 24. It is also approximately twice as much as the $500 million in Iranian cryptocurrency assets that the Treasury Department announced it had seized in late April.
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