The Central Bank of Iran has relaxed foreign currency regulations to facilitate the repatriation of overseas earnings. Businesses are now permitted to use cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin and Tether, to settle cross-border transactions through domestic exchanges.
Exporters are no longer required to sell their foreign currency through the government's official exchange platform. Instead, they can utilize these earnings directly to finance imports, a move aimed at mitigating the impact of tightening US sanctions.
Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs previously identified over $3,8 billion in transaction flows between the exchange CoinEx and Iranian entities over a seven-year period. CoinEx has formally denied any commercial ties to the Iranian government or local exchanges.
In June, the US Treasury sanctioned four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reported the seizure of approximately $1 billion in Iranian crypto assets and the freezing of over $130 million in wallets linked to the central bank.
