US Seized $500M in Iranian Crypto Assets Under Operation Economic Fury

The US Treasury has seized nearly $500 million in cryptocurrency assets tied to Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the figure on April 30 during a live appearance on Fox Business. The sum exceeds the previously confirmed $344 million and is the largest publicly stated seizure total in the American pressure campaign against Iranian finances.

What Is Operation Economic Fury

Operation Economic Fury is a financial pressure campaign against Iran that President Donald Trump launched in March 2025. Its goal: cut off Tehran from revenue by seizing assets, freezing bank accounts, and imposing secondary sanctions on countries that buy Iranian oil in violation of existing restrictions.

Since February 2025, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added more than 1,000 Iran-linked individuals, vessels, and aircraft to its sanctions lists. On April 29, the US announced a new round of measures: 35 people and entities tied to Iran's shadow banking network, a Chinese oil refinery, and roughly 40 shipping companies moving Iranian crude to China and Asia. An additional 14 individuals received sanctions for supplying components for Shahed attack drones and ballistic missiles.

Bessent noted the campaign goes beyond financial channels. It covers the foreign pension accounts and real estate holdings of Iranian officials. "We are freezing accounts everywhere. The most important thing is that we are making people less willing to deal with the regime," he said.

Tether's Role and the Unexplained $156M Gap

A week earlier, OFAC had sanctioned several crypto wallets linked to Tehran. Following that, USDT issuer Tether confirmed it had frozen more than $344 million in tokens at the request of US authorities. That figure was presented at the time as the full crypto seizure total.

CoinTelegraph contacted both parties for comment but received no response before the story published. Bessent suggested the broader figure covers multiple asset classes, not only frozen crypto. That may account for part of the gap between the two announced numbers.

Tether has cooperated with sanctions authorities before. In 2023, the company set up automatic compliance with OFAC requests for address freezes. The current operation is the largest single crypto-sector freeze tied to US sanctions enforcement.

Iran's Economy Under Pressure

Bessent says the campaign has produced real results. One of Iran's largest banks failed in December 2025. The rial has lost 60-70% of its value against the dollar. "They are in the middle of a currency crisis," the secretary said.

Measures running alongside the crypto sanctions include:

• secondary sanctions against buyers of Iranian oil in China and Asia
• blocking roughly 40 shadow fleet vessels on known trade routes
• restrictions on suppliers of weapons components (Shahed drones, ballistic missiles)
• freezing of foreign accounts and assets belonging to Iranian officials

The US is betting that combining financial, trade, and crypto pressure will push Iran's potential partners to reconsider cooperation with Tehran.

Bitcoin as Payment for Strait of Hormuz Passage

In April, reports emerged that Iran is weighing a fee for ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz. According to Forbes, loaded tankers would pay roughly $1 per barrel of oil, collected in Bitcoin. Empty vessels would pass without charge. Forbes also reported Iran had already received such payments, though Tehran has not publicly confirmed the claims.

Maritime risk firm Marisks flagged a fraud scheme tied to the same situation. Scammers are posing as Iranian security services, contacting ship owners, and demanding Bitcoin or USDT for "clearance" through the strait. There is no legal basis for those demands. The scheme shows crypto is being used as a pressure tool in the region from multiple directions at once.