Speaking at the Ronald Reagan National Economic Forum, Bessent stated that U.S. agencies have managed to establish direct control over crypto wallets linked to the authorities of the Islamic Republic.
"They just swooped in and took control of their wallets. Some of them might be entering their login info for their crypto wallet right now, only to realize there's nothing left," the official boasted.
According to Bessent, the operation is part of the government's program 'Economic Fury'. Its goal is to combat the mechanisms used to evade sanctions, which, according to US authorities, are being utilized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to finance military activities and export oil.
The American minister assured that the confiscated digital assets are being held 'in the interest of the Iranian people', and part of the funds may be allocated in the future for payments to 'victims of terrorism'. At the same time, Washington is coordinating with European allies regarding the seizure of overseas real estate and other assets owned by Iranian elites, Bessent reported.
The amount mentioned by Bessent reflects the result of several operations, not just a single attack on wallets. At the end of April this year, US authorities reported blocking Iran-related crypto assets amounting to about $500 million. At that time, approximately 344 million USDT on the Tron network were subjected to sanctions. The blocking was carried out with the involvement of the stablecoin issuer, Tether.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Iranian financier Babak Zanjani used the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance as part of a payment network financing the Iranian authorities.
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