Iran quietly tolerates crypto for trade settlements, FT reports

Iran's central bank has quietly loosened foreign-exchange controls over the past several months, tolerating the use of cryptocurrency for cross-border trade settlements as the country seeks workarounds to mounting U.S. sanctions pressure, the Financial Times News Corp ↗ 0.61% reported on Wednesday.ft

The shift allows Iranian exporters to repatriate overseas earnings through domestic cryptocurrency exchanges, convert foreign currency on open markets, and use export revenue directly to purchase imports — bypassing the state-supervised channels that historically required companies to return foreign earnings at below-market exchange rates.crypto+1

USDT Dominates Iranian Trade Settlement

USDT Tether, the dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether, is reportedly the most widely used digital asset for Iranian cross-border commercial payments, followed by Bitcoin ↗ 5.62%. The Tron ↗ 2.00% blockchain is favored for USDT transfers because of its low transaction fees.crypto+1

"Receiving export payments in crypto has now become completely normalized," an executive at a government-linked company told the Financial Times. The Central Bank of Iran did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment.ft+1

TRM Labs attributed approximately $9.9 billion in cryptocurrency volume to Iran during 2025, down from roughly $11.4 billion in 2024, reflecting what the firm described as structural demand rather than speculative trading. Iran also faces the challenge of unrepatriated export earnings — more than 20,000 individuals and companies have allegedly failed to return approximately €94 billion, according to figures cited by the Financial Times.kucoin+1

Washington Tightens the Crypto Dragnet

The informal policy shift comes as the U.S. Treasury has escalated enforcement against Iran's crypto infrastructure throughout 2026. In June, the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated four major Iranian crypto exchanges — Nobitex, Bit Pin, Wallex, and Ramzinex — which TRM Labs estimated handled about 78% of Iran's attributed crypto volume in 2025.trmlabs

In April, Tether froze approximately $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses linked to Iran's central bank and military networks. In July, another $131 million was frozen across four additional wallets. In August, Treasury issued a first-of-its-kind sectoral determination allowing OFAC to sanction any foreign person operating in or supporting Iran's digital assets sector.binance+4

Tolerance Without Legal Certainty

The Financial Times report describes a shift in enforcement practice rather than a published law or formal central bank directive. No public document from the Central Bank of Iran has confirmed cryptocurrency as an authorized settlement method. That distinction leaves Iranian businesses without legal certainty and exposes foreign counterparties — exchanges, payment providers, and trading partners — to potential U.S. secondary sanctions, asset freezes, and enforcement actions regardless of Iran's domestic tolerance.chainalysis+1