Overview
- The Financial Times reported on Sept. 9 that Iran’s central bank has relaxed enforcement of foreign-exchange rules so exporters can repatriate earnings via domestic crypto exchanges.
- Blockchain analysts estimate roughly $9.9–10 billion in crypto flows touched Iranian-linked addresses in 2025, with USDT on Tron dominant for commercial payments and Bitcoin used more for value storage and mining.
- U.S. enforcement has responded with targeted actions this year, including an April freeze of about $344 million in USDT and June designations of Iranian exchanges such as Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex.
- The structure of Iran’s new practice concentrates risk because a few domestic exchanges handle most flows and centralized issuers like Tether can freeze USDT, meaning on‑chain transfers do not guarantee access to funds.
- If Tehran does not publish formal rules, the tolerance could remain fragile and leave exporters, overseas suppliers, and banks exposed to secondary sanctions, frozen assets, and sudden policy reversals.