US targets $1 billion worth of Iranian-linked cryptocurrency assets

U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent says he may confiscate US$1 billion in Iranian-related cryptocurrencies this week

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the United States is expected to confiscate approximately US$1 billion worth of Iranian-related cryptocurrencies this week. However, no specific wallet address or holder information has been disclosed, and the government has not clearly stated whether the amount is a new amount based on the confiscation announced since April.

Summary of core points

• According to Scott Besent, the United States may confiscate US$1 billion in Iran-related cryptocurrency.
• Washington claimed to have located the funds, but did not disclose the wallet addresses involved and did not confirm whether the confiscation had been completed.
• Uncertainty remains about the amount announced, especially its relationship to previous U.S. law enforcement actions.
• Freezing cryptocurrencies is not the same as confiscation, which requires independent legal procedures.
• Iran's cryptocurrency platforms are facing increasing regulatory pressure amid the pressure of U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

Washington says it has located Iranian cryptocurrency assets

Scott Besant introduced the action at the Newsmax Policy Summit in Washington on Thursday. He said the move was aimed at cutting off the Iranian regime's sources of funding. "We will likely confiscate $1 billion in cryptocurrency this week," Besent pointed out. He added: "We know where they are and are isolating them." But he did not provide a blockchain address or specify the nature of the assets.

Existing information leaves a number of unsolved mysteries:

• announced an amount of approximately US$1 billion;
• The target wallet address has not yet been made public;
• The role played by the exchange or stablecoin issuer is still unclear;
• There is no official information confirming the official confiscation of this new amount;
• Bessent did not say whether the amount was an additional addition to previous actions;
• Assets may only be frozen before legal forfeiture proceedings are initiated.

The U.S. official described a comprehensive "quarantine" operation that transcends the cryptocurrency arena, including commercial, financial, aviation and maritime restrictions imposed in the context of the conflict with Iran.

The difference between confiscation and sanctions freezing

Sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) do not automatically transfer ownership of assets to the U.S. government. Sanctions typically require the freezing of funds located within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit U.S. people or companies from providing those funds to targeted entities.

此外，稳定币发行商也可以将某些代币列入黑名单。此时，资产在其地址上仍然可见，但持有人无法再对其进行转账。这种技术性的冻结并不必然构成最终归国家所有的没收行为。

真正的“没收”意味着当局依据逮捕令或其他司法授权取得资产控制权。最终的没收通常需要经过一个法律程序，在此过程中，政府必须证明资金与犯罪行为之间存在关联。

这一区别对于贝森特提到的10亿美元至关重要。他的声明仅预示了一次可能的行动，目前尚无法确定这些资金是已经被冻结、置于美国控制之下，还是仅仅被定位。

既往数据难以完全对应

今年4月，贝森特曾宣布没收了近5亿美元与伊朗相关的加密货币。一个月后，他将这一估计值提高至约10亿美元，并表示当局已经“直接控制了这些钱包”。然而，公开文件并未建立完整的清单，以便将这些声明与实际被没收的资产进行匹配。因此，这新的10亿美元可能代表额外的金额、针对同一批资金的新阶段行动，或者是对既有数据的更新估算。

据Tether公司声明，其在2026年因美国对伊朗的制裁而冻结了约5.5亿美元的USDT。其中近3.44亿美元是在4月份被冻结的。然而，由发行商冻结的资金不应自动被计入华盛顿方面没收的资产中。

In July, U.S. sanctions resulted in an additional approximately $130 million being frozen. Chain analysts linked the measure to four Tron addresses that hold nearly $131 million in USDT.

Iranian exchanges become focus of U.S. pressure

Since June, the U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on seven Iranian cryptocurrency platforms. Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex were first added to the list, followed by sanctions on Shelbit and Aban Tether in August, and BitBank in September.

Washington accuses the companies of helping circumvent sanctions or providing financial support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. BitBank reportedly transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin to the organization between June and July. However, these allegations originated from the U.S. authorities and not all have final judicial effect.

Another case demonstrated the necessary legal process: In September, the U.S. Department of Justice requested civil forfeiture of $61 million in cryptocurrency that, according to its indictment, originated from secret sales of Iranian oil. It is understood that the networks involved handled more than $1.5 billion in transactions.

The Ministry of Justice itself has emphasized that confiscation complaints are of an allegory nature only until the court makes a decision. The same caution applies to the new announcement: Washington claims to have located funds, but the confiscation of the $1 billion still needs to be confirmed through identifiable official actions.