Iran is giving exporters more ways to move money across borders, and Bitcoin is now part of that toolkit. Under a reported easing of currency controls, Iranian companies can use some overseas earnings directly to finance imports, while Bitcoin and USDT can be used for certain cross-border settlements through local exchanges.
The change, reported by the Financial Times, does not amount to a blanket legalization of crypto in Iran. Instead, it appears designed to make foreign revenues easier to bring back into the country at a time when Iranian businesses face severe limits on access to international banking.
The timing is particularly striking. Tehran is expanding the role of digital assets in trade just as Washington is widening its ability to target Iran’s crypto sector.
Bitcoin Finds Another Route Through Iran’s Trade System
For Iranian exporters, the most important change may actually be the currency rule. Companies can reportedly use part of their foreign-currency earnings to pay for imports without necessarily first converting those funds through the government platform at its official exchange rate.
Crypto adds another route. Bitcoin and, especially, USDT can be used for some transactions through Iranian exchanges, according to the Financial Times.
The Iranian Central Bank has not publicly provided a detailed explanation of the arrangement, and it did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. That distinction matters: the broader policy change has been reported, but there is not yet a publicly available central-bank document spelling out every detail of how crypto settlements will work.
The move also arrives only about a month after the US Treasury sanctioned Shelbit and Aban Tether, two platforms it accused of supporting financial networks connected to Iran.
That makes the policy less about embracing crypto for its own sake and more about expanding the number of channels available to businesses trying to move money internationally.
Iran already has a sizable crypto economy to build on. TRM Labs estimates that crypto activity tied to the country reached $9.9 billion in 2025.
Four Iranian exchanges — Nobitex, Bitpin, Wallex and Ramzinex — accounted for roughly $7.7 billion of that total, or about 78%. All four were sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control on June 2.
Nobitex stands out among them. The US Treasury estimates that the exchange handled more than half of Iran’s digital-asset inflows in 2025. Wallex represented about 12%, while Bitpin accounted for 10%. Ramzinex, meanwhile, has processed more than $2.45 billion since its launch.
The money also moves beyond Iran’s borders. TRM Labs identified $3.84 billion in flows between CoinEx and sanctioned Iranian entities over more than seven years, with around $2.7 billion involving Nobitex.
The same research traced nearly $67 million from the Iranian Central Bank to CoinEx addresses between June 2025 and June 2026. According to the report, those funds moved across several blockchains and through intermediary addresses before reaching the exchange.
CoinEx has denied having a business relationship with the Iranian government or local Iranian platforms.
Another investigation, reported by Cointribune this summer, found $676 million in transfers between Shelbit and Binance. Reuters did not establish that all of those funds were directly controlled by Iranian authorities, underscoring how complicated these transaction networks can become.
Bitcoin’s Visibility Is Part of the Problem
Washington is not simply watching these flows from the sidelines.
On August 24, the US Treasury formally expanded sanctions rules to include digital assets among Iranian sectors that can be targeted. The policy gives OFAC more scope to sanction foreign companies and individuals operating in Iran’s crypto sector or providing related services.
The Treasury also sanctioned Ivan Obukhov, a UAE-based broker it says processed more than $100 million in cryptocurrency transactions since 2023 to support oil sales benefiting the IRGC Qods Force.
That pressure comes after the June sanctions against Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex, followed by the August measures against Shelbit and Aban Tether.
Crypto can offer Iranian businesses a way to move value without relying on a US correspondent bank. But avoiding traditional banking does not mean disappearing from view.
Bitcoin transactions, for example, are recorded on a public blockchain. Centralized exchanges retain customer information, while stablecoin issuers can freeze addresses under certain circumstances. USDT is especially relevant here because it is issued and centrally managed by Tether.
For foreign companies, the sanctions risk is therefore still very real, particularly when payments involving Iran pass through intermediaries, exchanges or digital-asset networks.
Tehran’s new approach reflects that tension. Iran is creating more room for crypto in foreign trade while Washington is simultaneously expanding the tools it can use to scrutinize and sanction those same channels.
The starting point is already substantial: almost $10 billion in crypto activity was attributed to Iran in 2025. The latest policy shift suggests Tehran now wants more of that existing infrastructure to function as part of the country’s international trade system.