Bitcoin (BTC) held above $77,000 early Monday as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepared to detail what he calls an economic D-Day against Iran.
Key Points:
- Bessent will lay out a new Iran sanctions package at a Washington news conference on Monday, built around penalties for third countries.
- Bitcoin traded near $77,200 after a gain of more than 20% over the past week, its strongest stretch in three years.
- Crude eased before the announcement, with West Texas Intermediate near $85.65 a barrel and Brent near $93.09.
Bessent Sanctions Plan Targets Iran Oil
Bessent said the offensive begins at dawn, describing it as the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary and the endgame of a war now nearing six months. He wrote in a weekend opinion piece that Washington intends to sever every economic lifeline sustaining Tehran, arguing that U.S. strikes have already dismantled much of Iran's military and nuclear infrastructure.
A news conference in Washington later Monday will set out the details. The package is expected to lean on secondary sanctions, penalties aimed at foreign banks, companies and governments that keep buying Iranian oil or carrying its cargo at sea. President Donald Trump promised the campaign last week, and Bessent has since pledged the toughest sanctions in history with the aim of collapsing the government in Tehran.
Iran's top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, threatened to halt oil movement through the Strait of Hormuz if neighboring states join the crackdown, and Tehran has argued that decades of sanctions already failed to break it.
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Analysts Tie Bitcoin Rally To Treasury Buybacks
Crude slipped Monday as traders took profits ahead of the announcement, leaving West Texas Intermediate near $85.65 a barrel and Brent near $93.09 after both benchmarks gained more than 5% last week. Bitcoin barely moved, holding around $77,200 after climbing more than 20% over the past week.
Analysts trace that advance to the U.S. bond market, not to the war. Bessent doubled the size of the Treasury's long-dated debt buybacks on Aug. 19, lifting the per-operation ceiling to at least $4 billion and pulling long-term yields off 19-year highs.
Mark Connors, chief investment officer at Risk Dimensions, said the move removes one of the largest macro pressures weighing on crypto and could eventually push Bitcoin toward $180,000.
Bitcoin Price Swings Since January Peak
Connors also cautioned that Bitcoin could give back ground if the Clarity Act, the crypto market structure bill now before Congress, fails to advance by about Sept. 15, a date he described as a near-term risk marker.
Bitcoin peaked near $95,000 in January, slid below $60,000 by the end of June, then traded between $62,000 and $67,000 for much of the summer as investors avoided speculative assets. That range trapped a large pile of short positions betting Bitcoin would stay stuck. Last week's squeeze erased more than $4 billion in bearish crypto bets, according to CoinGlass data.
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