The U.S. government has seized vast sums of cryptocurrency from entities linked to Iran’s military since the war broke out in February, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“I believe that we have seized about $1 billion of their crypto,” Bessent told Fox Business Network’s Larry Kudlow. “Just outright grabbed the wallets. Some of them may be typing in right now, and they might not have realized that their wallet had been grabbed.”
The statement reflects the U.S. government's sweeping crackdown on Iran’s government, which benefits from the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Amid the conflict, the waterway—through which 20% of the world’s oil flows—has largely remained choked.
On Friday, Bessent didn’t link the seizures to the reported scheme—nor did he say that the U.S. government’s actions involved the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
