# Bessent Says US Will Probably Seize $1 Billion of Iranian Crypto This Week

The Treasury Secretary did not name the asset or the method, but past US actions against Iran's crypto have relied on stablecoin issuers that can freeze tokens.

- Published: 2026-10-11T05:46:49.306Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/crypto/2026-10-11/bessent-says-us-will-probably-seize-1-billion-of-iranian-cry
- Publisher: Polylog (Crypto desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/treasury-to-seize-one-billion-of-iran-crypto), [Polylog editors](https://polylog.news), [Cointelegraph](https://cointelegraph.com/news/scott-bessent-us-seize-crypto-iran-sanctions), [The Block](https://www.theblock.co/post/403075/us-has-seized-nearly-1-billion-in-crypto-from-iran-bessent-says)

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Newsmax's NPolicy Summit in Washington on October 9: "We're probably going to [seize $1 billion of crypto this week](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/treasury-to-seize-one-billion-of-iran-crypto). We know where it is. We are isolating them." He did not say which assets would be seized or how. [Cointelegraph](https://cointelegraph.com/news/scott-bessent-us-seize-crypto-iran-sanctions) reported that the seizure is part of a wider policy of isolating Iran.

The figure is hard to read on its own. In May, Bessent said the United States had [already seized about $1 billion](https://www.theblock.co/post/403075/us-has-seized-nearly-1-billion-in-crypto-from-iran-bessent-says) in Iranian crypto. It is unclear whether the new figure is a new target or overlaps with that total. Earlier actions give some idea of the method. Washington froze a $130 million wallet linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Tether [froze $344 million of its dollar token (USDT)](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/bessent-says-treasury-froze-130m-iran) at two addresses tied to the IRGC. Bitcoin held in self-custody cannot be frozen this way. Tokens whose issuer keeps a freeze function in its contract can.

The US government itself has become a large crypto holder through forfeitures. Cointelegraph reports that its [crypto holdings are down $16 billion](https://t.me/cointelegraph/72596) from their peak a year ago. The fall reflects lower prices rather than sales. Bessent is also in a public dispute with Senator Elizabeth Warren. On October 11 he [cited her "complete paucity of knowledge about financial markets"](https://t.me/cointelegraph/72597), so Treasury's crypto policy is moving forward without a settled consensus in Congress.

Each side has its own reason to shape the numbers. Treasury gains when it shows that sanctions reach on-chain value, both as pressure on Tehran and as a deterrent to anyone handling Iranian flows. Iran gains by playing down how much of its reserves sit on rails that can be frozen. Neither side has published wallet-level evidence for this week's figure.

## What this means

The mechanism is issuer control. Dollar stablecoins carry about $311.94 billion in circulating supply, with Tether's USDT at $184.07 billion according to DeFiLlama. Their freeze functions turn them into an extension of US sanctions enforcement whenever the issuer cooperates. The exposed parties are Iran's state-linked trading networks, the over-the-counter desks and exchanges that serve them, and any sanctioned state that holds reserves in dollar tokens. The common view says crypto lets states escape the dollar. On the evidence so far, it does the opposite for dollar stablecoins, because they extend Washington's reach. That runs counter to the desk's thesis of slow dollar erosion in the short run. Over time, though, it gives sanctioned actors a reason to use bitcoin in self-custody or non-dollar tokens. Russia's response to its 2022 reserve freeze is the clearest precedent: it accelerated settlement in yuan and rubles. The likelier outcome over the next several months is that Iran-linked flows move out of USDT and into self-custodied bitcoin and non-dollar rails, while US seizures increasingly depend on cooperation from exchanges and issuers. The read fails if Treasury shows it can seize self-custodied bitcoin at scale, for example through seized keys or exchange off-ramps, which would mean the asset type matters less than the network around it.

## What to watch

- Whether Treasury or the Justice Department names the assets and addresses behind this week's figure, which would show whether this is new money or a recount of the May total.
- New Tether freezes on Tron addresses tied to Iranian entities, which would confirm that the issuer remains the main enforcement channel.
- Signs of Iranian state entities moving value into bitcoin or non-dollar tokens, which would show the sanctioned side adapting to freezable rails.