US has seized roughly half a billion in Iranian cryptocurrency: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Speaking with Fox News, Bessent said the US managed to ‘grab’ about 350 million crypto assets, on top of another 100 they got earlier. “So, we’re almost at half a billion there, and we are freezing bank accounts everywhere,” he said.

This comes after Trump asked Bessent to up the ante against Tehran, putting more economic pressure on Tehran. The US is also insisting that foreign governments and companies cut ties with Iran, Al Jazeera reported.
“We have gone to the buyers of Iranian oil and told them that … we are willing to do secondary sanctions on your industries, on your banks that tolerate Iranian oil in their system,” he said.

This comes in the middle of America’s naval blockade of Iranian Ports to cause long-lasting damage to Tehran’s oil economy.

Bessent’s comment received a sharp response from Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who said that it was ‘junk advice’. In a post on X, he said: “3 days in, no well exploded. We could extend to 30 and livestream the well here.

“That was the kind of junk advice the US admin gets from people like Bessent, who also push the blockade theory and cranked oil up to $120+. Next stop:140. The issue isn’t the theory, it’s the mindset.”

3 days in, no well exploded.We could extend to 30 and livestream the well here.
That was the kind of junk advice the US admin gets from people like Bessent who also push the blockade theory and cranked oil up to $120+. Next stop:140. The issue isn’t the theory, it’s the mindset.

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 29, 2026

The US and Iran are locked in a delicate ceasefire, and officials from both countries, in coordination with Islamabad, are looking for a long-term solution to the war.