Iran’s central bank has reportedly moved to normalize cryptocurrency settlements for export payments, marking a significant shift in how businesses navigate U.S. sanctions and financial blockades. According to the Financial Times and WuBlockchain, exporters can now repatriate overseas funds through domestic crypto exchanges, use export revenue directly for imports, or convert foreign exchange on open markets. The change is described as a quiet easing of enforcement rather than a formal law, with no public directive from the Central Bank of Iran.
USDT is the most widely used asset for Iranian cross-border payments, with Bitcoin and other digital assets also accepted. “Receiving export payments in crypto has now become completely normalized,” an executive at a government-linked company told the Financial Times on condition of anonymity. The Central Bank of Iran did not respond to requests for comment.
The policy shift comes under intense U.S. sanctions pressure. TRM Labs attributed approximately $9.9 billion in cryptocurrency volume to Iran during 2025, down from about $11.4 billion in 2024, reflecting structural demand rather than purely speculative trading. The four Iranian exchanges later designated by the U.S. Treasury—Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex—handled about 78% of that volume, according to TRM estimates.
However, official tolerance does not equal legal certainty. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control regards Iranian digital asset exchanges as Iranian financial institutions whose property must be blocked. In April 2026, Tether froze approximately $344 million in USDT across two Tron addresses linked by U.S. authorities to Iranian state and military networks, showing that stablecoin transactions remain vulnerable to issuer-level freezes. Tron has become widely used for USDT transfers in Iran because of low transaction fees.
Iranian officials are also seeking the return of export proceeds held outside the country; more than 20,000 individuals and companies have allegedly failed to repatriate about €94 billion, according to figures cited by the Financial Times. Despite the growing role of digital assets, crypto activity remains small relative to Iran’s wider economy and cannot fully replace banking relationships, trade finance or large-scale foreign-exchange markets. Foreign counterparties still face secondary sanctions exposure, asset freezes or enforcement in other jurisdictions.
For market participants, the Iranian shift underscores how sanctioned economies are adopting stablecoins and Bitcoin for trade, but also highlights the control points that centralized issuers and regulators can exercise. The next developments to watch include whether Iran’s central bank formally confirms the reported policy, publishes settlement rules or licenses specific export channels.
