Scott Bessent says US holds nearly $1 billion in Iranian crypto assets

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Iranian economy was close to collapse on Friday, when he announced that the US had seized nearly $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency assets.

“We hold about a billion dollars of their crypto,” he told FOX Business. “Just grab the wallets.”

Joining “Kudlow” at the Reagan National Economic Forum, Bessent detailed the United States' campaign of economic pressure on Iran, known as “Operation Economic Fury,” which he said had sent the regime “into crisis.”

“I think between five and a half to six weeks of the military operation which was incredibly successful and then Operation Economic Fury, where we really cut them off…they're at the end of their finances now,” he said.

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“I think it's 40 or 50%. [Iranian] soldiers don't get paid. The police do not report to the station. Inflation is almost over 200%. They have to issue food vouchers. They turned off the internet.”

The effort, launched in March 2025, crippled Tehran's financial health by seizing Iranian assets, freezing bank accounts and pressuring foreign governments to cut ties with the country.

“We work with our partners all over Europe to hold villas and houses and buildings,” explains Bessent. “And this is money stolen from the Iranian people.”

Bessent said the Iranian regime was taking 400 to 500 million dollars every month and dividing the profits among several leaders, before the Ministry of Finance intervened.

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President Donald Trump speaks with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the White House Digital Assets Summit at the White House on March 07, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photos by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Secretary of the Treasury continued to talk about the ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran, highlighting the differences between the parties involved in the negotiations. President Donald Trump held a White House meeting on Friday where he said he would make a “final decision” on Iran.

“We didn't have a regime change, but we changed the regime,” said Bessent. “The leaders of the first level were beheaded, the second level were beheaded. So we are facing the third.”

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“And it's very difficult because, on the one hand, we have a theocracy and the clergy. On the other hand, we have a thug autocracy and the IRGC. And you have to convince both sides,” he added.

Bessent also spoke of the “very big” mistake made by Iran by attacking the Persian Gulf countries, which he said left the kingdom in great danger.

The IRGC has launched drone and missile attacks in all six GCC regions.

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“They made my job a lot easier because before, many of our GCC Gulf partners were very open about their banking system, saying, 'Hey, we don't have Iranian oil,'” Bessent said.

The Secretary of the Treasury added that after the Iranian strikes, the GCC states are more open to open relations to the oil supplied by Iran.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visits “FOX & Friends” at the Fox News Channel Studios on November 12, 2025, in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images/Getty Images)

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Bessent also said that the young members of the American service are happy to enforce the blockade of US warships in Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.

“They did a fantastic job,” he told FOX Business. “When I talked to General Caine and Secretary Hegseth, they said, 'Look, these young people are not afraid. They want to fight… This is what they signed up for.'