By cryptoadmin Iran’s central bank has quietly encouraged traders to bring overseas earnings home using cryptocurrencies, including Tether’s $USDT and bitcoin BTC$79,078.24, as it seeks to keep trade flowing under tightening U.S. sanctions.
Businesses said authorities have eased foreign-currency controls in recent months, allowing traders to settle cross-border transactions through Iranian crypto exchanges, the Financial Times reported citing regime insiders and analysts
The reported shift addresses a longstanding obstacle for exporters. Previously, businesses had to return a large share of their foreign earnings through a government-run platform at official exchange rates that were often below market rates, giving them an incentive to leave money overseas or bring it back without declaring it.
Traders can now exchange foreign currency at market rates and use export proceeds to pay for their own imports without routing the money through the official system, the FT reported.
Iranian authorities estimate that businesses have accumulated more than $100 billion in undeclared earnings at home and abroad.
Alireza Bozorgmehri, a member of the Iran Digital Transformation Association, told the newspaper that the central bank had also eased its scrutiny of crypto exchanges.
Iran has used crypto for trade before, placing a $10 million crypto-funded import order in 2022.
Those payment channels remain exposed to U.S. enforcement. In July, Washington added four wallets linked to Iran’s central bank to its sanctions list, prompting Tether to freeze $131 million in $USDT. Last month, the U.S. widened its crackdown on Iran to encompass crypto, gold, shipping and technology.
The U.S. and Iran have been trading blows since late February this year, putting the regime’s $7.8 billion crypto shadow economy in spotlight. It leverages state-sponsored bitcoin mining and stablecoins to bypass the U.S. dollar.
Foreign-exchange houses in neighboring countries remain businesses’ main route for bringing funds home, according to the FT.