US Opens A New Front Against Iran's Crypto Economy

The U.S. this week closed in on Iran, further targeting its crypto-related methods of dodging sanctions in a new economic campaign against the country.

In a Monday announcement, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said it had placed Iran’s digital asset sector under the same sanctions authority it has long used against the country’s oil, banking and metals industries.

.@SecScottBessent: "This is a sustained campaign to collapse every last option for Iran. Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States: an economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American… pic.twitter.com/tlx2gcNs1d— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) August 24, 2026

The move, as part of Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign against the Islamic Republic dubbed “economic D-Day,” is a first, and a significant escalation in exposure for crypto businesses worldwide.

With the new action, the Office of Foreign Assets Control can sanction any person, regardless of where they are located.