US Seizes $1B in Iranian Crypto — Will Any Reach Trump's…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced at the Reagan National Economic Forum that the US had seized roughly $1 billion in Iranian crypto assets, describing how authorities "just outright grabbed the wallets." The claim is significant, but the legal path from seizure to reserve asset is far from automatic.

The clearest documented component is a $344 million USDT freeze: Tether blocked the funds at the address level after coordination with US authorities, with TRM Labs linking the wallets to Iran's Central Bank, the IRGC-Qods Force, and Hezbollah. That leaves roughly $656 million publicly unaccounted, with no wallet-by-wallet or token-by-token breakdown confirmed.

Under Trump's 2025 executive order, only Bitcoin that has cleared final forfeiture — with no victim restitution, law-enforcement, or statutory claims outstanding — qualifies for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.