One billion US dollars worth of Iranian cryptocurrency seized by the US—can it be incorporated into America's strategic Bitcoin reserves?

Article by: Gino Matos

Translated by: Saoirse, Foresight News

Summary Highlights

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the U.S. has seized approximately $1 billion worth of Iranian crypto assets, but did not disclose the related wallet addresses or token composition.

Asset classification is crucial: Bitcoin that is legally confiscated can be allocated to the Trump Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, while other tokens will be handled separately.

The legal status of the assets—whether frozen, seized, or officially confiscated—remains uncertain, and this directly determines whether the funds can be incorporated into the reserve.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated at the Reagan National Economic Forum that the U.S. has seized about $1 billion in Iranian crypto assets. This seizure marks the first real-world test of the Trump administration’s crypto reserve system since its implementation. Bessent added that the U.S. "directly took control of the involved wallets." CBS News reported that he characterized these assets as funds stolen from the Iranian people. However, Bessent did not disclose the asset types or the wallet information, which are key details that determine whether the funds can flow into the Trump-established strategic Bitcoin reserve.

According to the executive order signed by Trump in 2025, digital assets under U.S. control are divided into two separate accounts: the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which specifically holds Bitcoin confiscated through civil or criminal judicial processes or obtained via civil fines, with a legal prohibition on selling the Bitcoin stored in this account; and the U.S. Digital Asset Reserve, which holds non-Bitcoin digital assets that have been finally confiscated. This classification system makes the current Iranian crypto seizure a practical test: only Bitcoin that completes the final confiscation process can be allocated to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve; other tokens are categorized into the U.S. Digital Asset Reserve.

If the seized Iranian assets include Bitcoin and are successfully confiscated through legal procedures, they can be added to the reserve; if they are stablecoins or other tokens, they are likely to be placed into the reserve. Another possibility is that the assets are only frozen, meaning the U.S. has not yet obtained legal ownership.

Clarifying the Legal Meaning of "Seizure"

As early as April, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on multiple Iranian-related wallets. Tether also disclosed that, in cooperation with U.S. regulators, two addresses were frozen, totaling $344 million in USDT. Blockchain risk management firm TRM Labs verified that these wallets are associated with the Central Bank of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The remaining approximately $656 million in assets lack any publicly available details broken down by wallet or token type.

"Actual seizure" ≠ "Legal ownership." OFAC sanctions regulations clearly state that assets under sanctions are only frozen in accounts; the U.S. does not automatically acquire ownership rights. For example, with stablecoins like USDT, the issuer’s cooperation in freezing addresses constitutes a sanctions freeze, not a judicial confiscation. Law enforcement’s seizure only indicates temporary government control; ownership remains pending confiscation litigation.

Final confiscation is a strict threshold for assets to enter the reserve: after completing the confiscation process, remaining funds must be deducted for victim compensation, law enforcement special expenses, allocations to local agencies, and legal exemptions before they qualify for inclusion in the reserve or reserve bank. Bessent’s public statements cast doubt on the legal status of this seized asset.

Based on the current Bitcoin price of approximately $73,000, if the entire $1 billion were in Bitcoin, it would amount to about 13,632 BTC. Data from 2025 shows that the U.S. government has accumulated roughly 200k compliant Bitcoin through past judicial procedures. If this full amount of BTC is added to the reserve, it would represent a 6.8% increase over the existing holdings. Currently, only $344 million in USDT is publicly documented as frozen; the remaining $656 million in other tokens and their legal status are not disclosed, and no assets have completed the legal confiscation process.

Industry context for the $1 billion seizure

From Iran’s crypto industry perspective, a seizure of $1 billion is plausible, though the asset composition remains opaque.

Chainalysis estimates that Iran’s total crypto transfer volume in 2025 will reach $7.78 billion. In Q4 2025, funds related to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accounted for 50% of Iran’s total crypto transactions. TRM Labs estimates Iran’s total crypto activity in 2025 to be nearly $10 billion. Iran’s leading exchange, Nobitex, with 11 million users, handles 70% of domestic crypto trading and has long processed billions of dollars in transfers for sanctioned entities like the Central Bank of Iran and the Revolutionary Guard.

Combining these industry data points, the U.S. law enforcement actions and the freezing of assets by issuers amounting to $1 billion are consistent with industry logic, but specific asset details cannot be verified. The publicly disclosed $344 million in USDT accounts for only 33% of the total; the remaining 65.6% of the funds’ whereabouts are unknown.

The known $344 million in USDT frozen accounts for only 33% of the $1 billion Iranian crypto seizure claimed by Bessent. The remaining $656 million in other tokens and their legal status remain undisclosed.

Analysis of the token composition and potential disposition

If the $1 billion includes a significant amount of Bitcoin, and the U.S. completes ownership confiscation without needing to compensate victims or allocate funds for law enforcement, then the Bitcoin would enter the prohibited sale strategic reserve. Originally, Iran’s crypto assets used to evade U.S. financial sanctions would, through sanctions enforcement, become U.S. sovereign assets.

The only confirmed asset so far is the $344 million USDT, frozen by Tether in cooperation with regulators. If the remaining $656 million is also primarily stablecoins, this incident essentially becomes a case study in stablecoin compliance and regulation. USDT in frozen state will remain locked; non-Bitcoin assets, after confiscation, will be transferred into the digital asset reserve, with subsequent disposal plans determined solely by the Treasury Secretary. The complete wallet and token list will directly influence the event’s classification: either as U.S. sovereign holdings or as stablecoin regulatory compliance. Bessent has not disclosed any further details at this stage.

The executive order also stipulates that confiscated assets may be returned to victims, allocated for case expenses, shared with law enforcement agencies, or exempted from return by law—all of which could prevent assets from entering the reserve. These provisions serve as multiple checkpoints that can trigger at any stage before or after confiscation, transforming "seizure" into "federal treasury reserve."

The institutional framework established by the Trump reserve law means that future crypto seizures targeting hostile nations will be managed as U.S. sovereign assets.

Going forward, every enforcement action against entities like Iran or North Korea will involve three key determinations: token type, legal status, and which federal account it belongs to. Only if all three conditions are met—targeted assets are Bitcoin, they are fully confiscated through legal procedures, and no compensation or exemption applies—can the Iranian assets potentially be added to the U.S. strategic reserve. If the confiscation process and legal exemptions are successfully navigated, crypto assets originally used to bypass U.S. financial controls could, in turn, become part of U.S. sovereign holdings.