{"id":14373,"date":"2026-10-12T09:23:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T09:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=14373"},"modified":"2026-10-12T09:23:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T09:23:49","slug":"us-targets-1-billion-in-iran-linked-crypto-for-seizure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=14373","title":{"rendered":"US Targets $1 Billion in Iran-Linked Crypto for Seizure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"blockquote-block_09a2b215ddf066fc31f825d6e3323f72\" class=\"blockquote-container\" style=\"border-color: #5100fc\">\n<div class=\"blockquote-text\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bessent said the Trump administration could seize US$1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran as part of its \u201cabsolute isolation campaign\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The broader pressure campaign could include targeting air and land travel, alongside a naval blockade and additional economic measures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">US Treasury actions have already targeted Iranian crypto infrastructure, including Nobitex, BitBank and networks accused of helping move funds outside conventional finance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iran\u2019s reliance on digital assets has grown amid sanctions, with nearly US$10 billion in crypto reportedly moving through the country during 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The US administration has said it is looking to increase pressure on Iran and further isolate the country in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called an \u201cabsolute isolation campaign\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bessent said during an interview at Newsmax\u2019s NPolicy Summit in Washington, D.C., that the Trump administration\u2019s plans included a US$1 billion (AU$1.4 billion) seizure of crypto. Other measures would include targeting key infrastructure such as air and land travel, as well as a naval blockade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regarding the crypto seizure, Bessent was adamant this is going to happen very soon, saying the administration \u201cknow[s] where it is\u201d.<\/p>\n<div id=\"blockquote-block_a2d2ebf45fb91fba619f6646a675f5b6\" class=\"blockquote-container variant-personal\">\n<div class=\"blockquote-text\">\n<p>We\u2019re probably gonna seize a billion dollars of crypto this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"blockquote-attribution\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-image lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.cryptonews.com.au\/2024\/11\/25124837\/Screenshot-2024-11-25-104824.png\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.cryptonews.com.au\/2024\/11\/25124837\/Screenshot-2024-11-25-104824.png\" class=\"author-image\" data-eio=\"l\"\/>        Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to the interviewer\u2019s question about whether US sanctions were effective enough against Iran, Bessent insisted that the US had \u201cisolated them economically\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Read also:<\/strong> <strong>OpenAI Used AI to Draft Australian Government Breach Notification<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-treasury-s-pressure-campaign-against-tehran\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Treasury\u2019s Pressure Campaign Against Tehran<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Treasury has repeatedly targeted Iranian digital-asset infrastructure this year, including sanctions against Nobitex, the country\u2019s largest crypto exchange, and later BitBank and other networks accused of helping Iran move funds outside the conventional financial system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It announced action against BitBank in September, and Bessent said efforts to finance Iran through cryptocurrencies were \u201cnot beyond OFAC\u2019s reach\u201d, underscoring that blockchain transactions are now being treated as part of the same sanctions-enforcement framework as banks, shipping and commodity trades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, sanctions appear to be increasing Iran\u2019s reliance on digital assets: Iranian authorities have reportedly relaxed some currency controls as businesses turn to Bitcoin, USDT and crypto exchanges to move money internationally, while Iran\u2019s sizeable Bitcoin-mining sector provides another means of obtaining digital assets without relying on conventional cross-border payments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Read also:<\/strong> <strong>Australian SMSF Investors Push Crypto Buy\/Sell Ratio to Record High<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crypto News Australia reported that almost US$10 billion (AU$14.2 billion) in crypto moved through Iran during 2025, while Tether has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars linked to Iranian entities, illustrating why a potential US$1 billion (AU$1.4 billion) seizure would represent a significant escalation in the crypto component of Washington\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Cryptocurrency,Iran#Targets #Billion #IranLinked #Crypto #Seizure1791797029<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bessent said the Trump administration could seize US$1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran as part of its \u201cabsolute isolation campaign\u201d. The broader pressure campaign could include targeting air and land travel, alongside a naval blockade and additional economic measures. US Treasury actions have already targeted Iranian crypto infrastructure, including Nobitex, BitBank and networks accused<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[277,62,2078,1184,564],"class_list":["post-14373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bitcoin","tag-billion","tag-crypto","tag-iranlinked","tag-seizure","tag-targets"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US Targets $1 Billion in Iran-Linked Crypto for Seizure - Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=14373\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Targets $1 Billion in Iran-Linked Crypto for Seizure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bessent said the Trump administration could seize US$1 billion in cryptocurrency linked to Iran as part of its \u201cabsolute isolation campaign\u201d. 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