In a significant shift in global crypto policy, Russia has formalized the legal framework for confiscating cryptocurrencies, while Iran's parallel digital asset economy has grown to a substantial $7.78 billion in 2025. President Vladimir Putin signed a law that defines virtual currencies as "intangible assets" and permits court-ordered seizure of assets like Bitcoin in criminal cases. The legislation empowers law enforcement to confiscate hardware wallets and transfer funds to designated safe addresses, establishing formal procedures for handling seized crypto during investigations.
Meanwhile, Iran's crypto ecosystem, driven by Bitcoin mining and stablecoin usage, reached a valuation of $7.78 billion last year. Analysis from Chainalysis indicates that addresses linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accounted for over 50% of inflows, receiving more than $3 billion in 2025. Furthermore, Elliptic reported that Iran's central bank accumulated at least $507 million in USDT, likely to stabilize the national rial and settle international trade. The Iranian government mines Bitcoin at an estimated cost of $1,300 per coin, selling it at market rates, though recent military strikes by the U.S. and Israel on its power grid could threaten mining operations.
Regulatory developments are also advancing across Asia. The Bank of Korea has renewed its call for commercial banks to lead the issuance of won-pegged stablecoins, warning that private issuance could undermine monetary policy and foreign exchange stability. South Korea's upcoming Digital Assets Basic Act is expected to require overseas stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle to establish local branches. In China, the Supreme People's Court announced plans to study judicial responses to virtual currency financial cases.
Market data underscores this growth. A report from Artemis and Stablecon showed B2B stablecoin payments surged over 730% year-on-year in 2025, with total annual payment volume hitting $390 billion. China ranked second globally in stablecoin inflows, receiving around $71 billion monthly.
In other regional news, Japan's Financial Services Agency will support private-sector anti-money laundering (AML) pilot trials from March to May 2026. Additionally, Japan's largest security token platform, Progmat, plans to migrate over $2 billion in tokenized real estate and corporate bonds to an Avalanche Layer 1 network by June 2026. Separately, a security incident at South Korea's National Tax Service, where a hardware wallet recovery phrase was exposed in a news photo, led to the transfer of about $4.8 million in tokens.
