Bessent states US has seized Iranian crypto assets worth $500 million

Washington - US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated that Washington has seized Iranian cryptocurrency assets worth approximately $500 million (Rp8.6 trillion). “We have successfully seized around $350 million in crypto assets, and then an additional around $100 million that we just obtained. So the total is nearly half a billion,” Bessent told Fox Business, as reported by RIA Novosti on Thursday. On 16 April, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said that the US Treasury Department launched the “Economic Fury” operation against Iran to maximise economic pressure on the country. On 28 February, the US and Israel launched joint strikes against targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran responded by attacking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East in self-defence. On 11 April, Iran and the US held talks in Islamabad after US President Donald Trump announced that an agreement had been reached with Tehran for a two-week ceasefire. Then on 12 April, the head of the US delegation, Vice President J.D. Vance, said that Iran and the US failed to reach an agreement in those negotiations. The US delegation returned to its country without results. Trump then announced a blockade against all ships entering and leaving Iranian ports on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz.