Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on April 29 that the United States has seized almost $500 million in Iranian crypto assets under Operation Economic Fury, including a $344 million Tether freeze on two Tron addresses, while saying Iran’s currency has fallen 60 to 70% against the dollar and the country is in the middle of a currency crisis.
Summary
- Bessent said Operation Economic Fury has seized roughly $350 million in crypto assets plus an additional $100 million seized separately, bringing the total close to $500 million as part of a broader campaign targeting Iranian bank accounts, retirement funds, and overseas real estate.
- Tether froze over $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses on April 23 after receiving direction from OFAC, with Chainalysis confirming on-chain patterns consistent with IRGC-linked wallets and Central Bank of Iran intermediary addresses.
- Bessent warned that the pressure campaign would leave the Iranian regime unable to pay its soldiers or fund proxy networks including Hezbollah and Hamas, and said secondary sanctions are now being deployed against buyers of Iranian oil.
Bessent Iran remarks on Fox Business’s Kudlow on April 29 confirmed the scope of Operation Economic Fury. CryptoTimes reported that Bessent said: “We were able to grab about 350 million crypto assets, and then on top of another 100 that we had recently gotten, so we’re almost at half a billion there, and we are freezing bank accounts everywhere.” Operation Economic Fury was ordered by President Trump in March 2025 and has been systematically cutting off Tehran’s financial access across crypto wallets, banking channels, foreign real estate, and retirement funds.
As crypto.news reported, OFAC has sanctioned more than 1,000 Iran-related individuals, vessels, and aircraft under Operation Economic Fury since February 2025, with the campaign recently expanding to secondary sanctions against Chinese oil refineries and shipping firms that handle Iranian crude. The largest single crypto action within the campaign came on April 23, when as crypto.news documented, Tether froze $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses at OFAC’s direction, with one wallet holding approximately $213 million and the other $131 million, both identified by Chainalysis as matching IRGC wallet patterns and Central Bank of Iran intermediary addresses. As crypto.news tracked, the freeze is the largest single crypto enforcement action directly linked to Iran since the current conflict began in February 2026. Bessent said the combined economic pressure from Operation Economic Fury and the naval blockade has produced a 60 to 70% crash in the Iranian rial against the dollar and the collapse of Iran’s largest bank in December, and warned that Tehran will soon be unable to fund its military or its proxy networks.
Source: https://crypto.news/bessent-says-iran-crypto-seizure-hits-500-million/
