Washington announces the seizure of half a billion dollars of Iranian cryptocurrency

Details of confiscated digital assets

In an interview with Fox News, Bessent explained that Washington had seized nearly half a billion dollars in cryptocurrency assets. The Secretary elaborated on the operation, saying, “We’ve seized approximately 350 million dollars in cryptocurrency assets, plus another 100 million we recently acquired, bringing us close to the half-billion-dollar mark.”

He emphasized that these seizures were accompanied by a broad international campaign to freeze bank accounts linked to the Iranian regime worldwide.

Trump’s orders and increased pressure

Bisent revealed that President Donald Trump had ordered the start of the maximum economic pressure campaign in March of last year.

However, President Trump emphasized the need to “increase the pressure again” about three weeks ago. This has translated into an intensified crackdown on digital assets that Tehran is attempting to use to circumvent the beleaguered traditional banking system.

The oil embargo and naval blockade

Washington didn’t stop at targeting cryptocurrencies; its “economic wrath” strategy extended to Iran’s main lifeline.

“We went directly to Iran’s oil buyers and made it clear that we are prepared to impose severe secondary sanctions on their industries and banks that tolerate Iranian oil in their systems,” said Bessent.

The Treasury Secretary concluded his remarks by emphasizing that this intense economic pressure, coupled with a US naval blockade of Iranian ports, will inflict structural and lasting damage on the Iranian economy. This pressure will deprive Tehran of the ability to finance its regional activities or maintain the stability of its local currency, which is experiencing successive collapses against foreign currencies.