Cut off From Global Finance, Iran Turns to Bitcoin and Tether

Digital Assets Take on a Bigger Role in Iran’s Trade

On Wednesday, the Financial Times (FT) reported that Iran’s central bank has told businesses and traders to repatriate funds by any means necessary, including using bitcoin and tether. FT reporter, Najmeh Bozorgmehr, based in Tehran, cites “Iranian businesses, regime insiders and analysts” who are familiar with the matter.

FT reports that $10 billion in cryptocurrency moved through Iran in 2025, while its analysis also cites blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, which estimates that Iran accounts for 4.5% of global bitcoin mining hashrate. Bitcoin.com News independently checked both figures and found that the $10 billion estimate originates from TRM Labs and Chainalysis, two blockchain analytics firms that placed Iran-linked cryptocurrency activity between $8 billion and $10 billion.

Elliptic’s mining estimate is less clear-cut, however, as several other sources place Iran’s share of global bitcoin hashrate considerably lower. Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) shows Iran’s measure of the global hashrate stands at 0.12%, and hashrateindex.com’s hashpower heatmap has Iran sitting at around 0.2% in Q3 2026. However, CCAF leverages an IP method to get its count, and it can be perceived as an undercount because Iranian miners can use VPNs.

Crypto Takes Root as Iran Pushes Against U.S. Sanctions

This is not the first time reports have said Iran has been leveraging bitcoin and stablecoins during the war against the United States. In April, it was reported that Iran was charging cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. In June, Bitcoin.com News reporter Sergio Goschenko covered how Iran was charging $2 million per vessel in BTC and USDT.

Alongside this, former Central Bank of Iran PR chief Mostafa Ghamari Vafa posted on X in April and said that the central bank opened four special accounts. He said one account was for the rial, with others for the yuan, the U.S. dollar, and the euro. The accounts were made specifically for Hormuz transit fees collected by the IRGC Navy. The former PR chief, however, did not mention bitcoin or tether in his statement at the time.

Bozorgmehr’s report says that Iran’s judiciary estimates there’s a lot of undeclared earnings at home and overseas from importers and exporters, roughly $100 billion. “Receiving cryptocurrencies for exports is now totally established,” an Iranian business executive told the FT reporter. FT reached out to the country’s central bank, and representatives declined to comment.

Washington Targets Iran’s Growing Digital Asset Channels

Back in May, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed at the Reagan National Economic Forum in Simi Valley, California, that the department had seized roughly $1 billion in cryptocurrency assets tied to Iran. Just recently, Bessent warned foreign nations to sever Iranian digital asset ties, and Bessent told the press that a plan called Operation Economic Outcast would push that goal. It was formally launched on Aug. 24.

Bozorgmehr also discussed the alleged crypto activity with a member of the Iran Digital Transformation Association. This particular member noted that the central bank “no longer insists” on enforcing hard rules against bitcoin trading platforms. FT’s report and the others before it, published this past spring, signal the fact that financial sanctions are losing their sting in a borderless digital era.