Iran is increasingly using bitcoin and tether as a practical way to settle trade and move funds internationally, according to reports, as financial sanctions continue to limit the country’s access to conventional banking channels.
The Financial Times (FT) reported on Wednesday that the Central Bank of Iran had instructed businesses and traders to repatriate money by any means available, including through bitcoin (BTC) and tether (USDT). The report, written by Tehran-based journalist Najmeh Bozorgmehr, cited Iranian businesses, people linked to the regime and analysts familiar with the issue.
The FT said about $10bn (£7.4bn) in cryptocurrency passed through Iran in 2025. Its analysis also referred to blockchain analytics company Elliptic, which estimated that Iran represented 4.5% of the world’s bitcoin mining hashrate.
That $10bn figure was independently checked by Bitcoin.com News, which found it had originated from estimates by blockchain firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis. Those companies placed Iran-linked cryptocurrency activity between $8bn and $10bn.
The estimate of Iran’s share of global bitcoin mining is less certain. Data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) puts the country’s share at 0.12%, while the hashrateindex.com hashpower heatmap places it at about 0.2% in the third quarter of 2026.
However, CCAF uses an internet protocol address-based method to calculate its figures. That may result in an undercount because Iranian miners can use virtual private networks (VPNs) to conceal their locations.
Reports that Iran is using bitcoin and stablecoins during its confrontation with the United States are not new. In April, claims emerged that Iran was accepting cryptocurrency payments for the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Bitcoin.com News journalist Sergio Goschenko reported in June that Iran was charging $2m per vessel in bitcoin and tether.
In April, Mostafa Ghamari Vafa, a former public relations chief at the Central Bank of Iran, said on X that the bank had opened four special accounts. One was denominated in the rial, while the others were intended for the Chinese yuan, US dollar and euro.
He said the accounts had been created specifically to receive transit fees collected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy for vessels using the Strait of Hormuz. His statement did not refer to bitcoin or tether.
Bozorgmehr’s FT report said Iran’s judiciary believes importers and exporters hold approximately $100bn in undeclared earnings inside the country and overseas.
“Receiving cryptocurrencies for exports is now totally established,” an Iranian business executive told the FT.
The newspaper said it contacted Iran’s central bank, but representatives declined to comment.
The issue has also drawn attention from the United States. In May, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the Reagan National Economic Forum in Simi Valley, California, that the department had seized about $1bn in cryptocurrency assets connected to Iran.
More recently, Bessent urged foreign countries to end their digital asset links with Iran. He told reporters that a plan called Operation Economic Outcast would support that objective. The operation was formally launched on 24 August.
A member of the Iran Digital Transformation Association also told Bozorgmehr that the central bank “no longer insists” on enforcing strict rules against bitcoin trading platforms.
The latest report, following similar claims earlier in the spring, suggests that sanctions may be becoming less effective as financial activity moves through decentralised and borderless digital networks.
Bitcoin itself had a volatile but ultimately flat trading session despite a $6bn long-term debt buyback by the US Treasury.
