Iran is loosening some of its currency controls and leaving more room for crypto in its international trade. According to the Financial Times, exporters can now use their foreign earnings to directly finance imports and use bitcoin or USDT for certain cross-border settlements. Nearly $9.9 billion in crypto activity had already been allocated to Iran in 2025. The Iranian Central Bank has not publicly commented on these new rules.
In brief
- Iranian exporters have more freedom to use their earnings abroad.
- Bitcoin and USDT can be used for some cross-border payments, according to the Financial Times.
- Four sanctioned Iranian exchanges concentrated 78% of the crypto volume allocated to the country in 2025.
Crypto: Tehran gives more margin to exporters
The change first concerns currencies. Iranian companies can directly use part of their foreign revenues to finance their imports. They no longer necessarily have to first sell these currencies on the government platform at the official rate
Crypto is one of the possible channels. Bitcoin and especially USDT can be used to settle certain transactions via Iranian exchanges. This opening comes a month after Washington sanctioned Shelbit and Aban Tether, two platforms accused by the US Treasury of facilitating financial circuits linked to Iran.
This is not a general legalization of all crypto flows. Tehran above all seeks to more easily recover revenues generated abroad while access to international banks remains greatly reduced.
The Financial Times also reports that authorities are still investigating on export earnings that have not been repatriated. The Central Bank did not respond to Cointelegraph on the details of the system. This point matters: the use of Bitcoin and USDT is reported by the Financial Times, but no detailed official text from the central bank has yet been made public in the sources consulted.
Nearly $10 billion circulated in crypto in 2025
Iran is already starting from an important base. TRM Labs values at $9.9 billion the crypto volume allocated to the country in 2025. Nobitex, Bitpin, Wallex and Ramzinex alone represented around 7.7 billion, or 78% of the total. The four platforms were sanctioned by OFAC on June 2.
Nobitex largely dominates. The US Treasury estimates that the exchange processed more than half of Iran’s digital asset inflows in 2025. Wallex accounted for about 12%, Bitpin 10%. Ramzinex has processed over $2.45 billion since its inception.
Connections with foreign platforms are also documented. TRM Labs says it has traced $3.84 billion in flows between CoinEx and sanctioned Iranian entities over more than seven years. Around 2.7 billion concern Nobitex.
The same report identifies nearly $67 million originating from the Iranian Central Bank and arriving at CoinEx addresses between June 2025 and June 2026. The movements allegedly used multiple blockchains and intermediate steps before reaching the exchange. CoinEx denies any business relationship with the Iranian government or local platforms.
The filing goes beyond CoinEx. An investigation taken up this summer by Tremplin.io also identified $676 million in transfers between Shelbit and Binance. Reuters had not, however, established that all of these funds were directly controlled by the Iranian authorities. The amounts are high. The circuits are also numerous.
Washington now places the entire Iranian crypto sector under pressure
The United States has expanded its response. On August 24, the US Treasury officially added digital assets to Iran’s sanctionable sectors. The system allows OFAC to target foreign individuals or companies that operate in this sector or provide certain services.
Washington specifically cites crypto among the means used by Iran to move money outside traditional financial circuits. The same day, the Treasury sanctioned Ivan Obukhov, a broker based in the United Arab Emirates. The administration claims it has processed more than $100 million in cryptocurrencies since 2023 to facilitate oil sales for the IRGC’s Quds Force.
The sanctions had already started to directly target the exchanges. Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex in June. Shelbit and Aban Tether in August. Bitcoin and stablecoins allow funds to be transferred without using a US correspondent bank. This does not make transactions invisible.
Public blockchains leave traces. Centralized exchanges also store customer data and stablecoin issuers can block certain addresses. This is especially true for USDT.
For foreign companies, the risk remains concrete. Tremplin.io had already detailed the exposure to sanctions of companies that pay Iran in crypto, particularly in maritime transport. Tehran is therefore further opening its commercial circuits to digital assets at a time when Washington is expanding its means to monitor them. No need to speculate further. By 2025, nearly $10 billion had already circulated in the Iranian crypto ecosystem. The new rules now seek to make some of this infrastructure more useful to foreign trade.
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