Iran has reportedly eased foreign-exchange controls and begun accepting cryptocurrency payments for exports as businesses struggle to use conventional banking channels under growing US sancti
Iran has reportedly eased foreign-exchange controls and begun accepting cryptocurrency payments for exports as businesses struggle to use conventional banking channels under growing US sanctions. The Financial Times reported that Iranian companies can now receive cross-border payments in USDT, Bitcoin and other digital assets, with USDT said to be the most widely used.
The change comes as Iran faces more financial isolation. An executive at a government-linked company told the Financial Times that receiving export payments in crypto has become “completely normalized”.
FT says Tehran loosened FX rules so exporters can bring money home — including via USDT and BTC on local venues.
Skip the official FX window. Use earnings to pay for imports direct. CBI didn’t comment to Cointelegraph.
US already hit Iranian exchanges in June and froze wallets… pic.twitter.com/VodWUooFQc
— Jessica Gonzales (@lil_disruptor) September 9, 2026
USDT is better suited to trade payments because its value is designed to track the US dollar. Bitcoin, by comparison, can move several percentage points in a single day, creating a risk for a business that agrees on a price with an overseas buyer and receives payment later.
That difference is important when a company is using crypto as a payment tool rather than as an investment. An exporter that receives $500,000 in USDT can generally expect the token’s dollar value to remain close to $500,000. The same payment received in Bitcoin could be worth considerably more or less by the time the company converts it into another currency.
This also explain why stablecoins have become one of the biggest real-world uses of crypto. They combine the speed and global reach of blockchain transfers with a value linked to a familiar currency. For companies operating in countries where access to dollars through banks is difficult, that can make USDT more useful than a highly volatile cryptocurrency.
However, USDT does not remove every restriction. Tether can freeze specific addresses, and blockchain transactions can be tracked. US authorities have also targeted crypto exchanges and networks linked to Iranian sanctions evasion, showing that moving money through crypto does not make it invisible to regulators.
Iran’s banking system remains connected to the country’s domestic economy, but its ability to connect Iranian businesses with international banks is heavily restricted by U.S. sanctions. That creates a gap that cryptocurrencies can partly fill. A company can receive USDT or Bitcoin from an overseas counterparty without requiring both sides to maintain accounts with banks that can process the transaction.
However, crypto does not remove Iran’s dependence on banks. Iranian businesses still need local banks to hold and convert funds into rials, pay employees, settle domestic transactions and access other financial services. Exporters also need shipping companies, insurers, customs providers and foreign suppliers, many of which remain connected to the conventional financial system.
Iran previously reported $10 billion in crypto activity during 2025, representing an alternative payment channel rather than a replacement for Iran’s banking sector. It is large enough to show that crypto is becoming part of the country’s financial infrastructure, but it is not large enough to substitute for the banking, credit and foreign-exchange functions required by a national economy.
Iran’s experience therefore points to a narrower role for crypto where digital assets can provide Iranian businesses with an additional route for cross-border payments when access to international banking channels is restricted. They cannot, however, replace the domestic banking infrastructure that handles credit, deposits, payments, foreign-exchange conversion and the wider financial operations of the Iranian economy.
One user, Thorolf, argued that tokenized Bitcoin could go beyond payments and support a decentralized voting system that could help Iranians “bypass” the IRGC. The commenter noted that other decentralized smart contracts could also be used for the same purpose, while suggesting that basic KYC checks could be used to confirm the identity of voters.
Another commenter, Dca_ethusiast, focused on the difference between USDT and Bitcoin. He argued that USDT can be frozen by its issuer and is therefore not fully decentralized, while Bitcoin can be used by anyone without a central party deciding whether a transaction should be allowed. Also arguing that crypto could keep economic activity moving during conflicts because users can choose whether to accept payments from particular parties.
Anjli took a different view, pointing to one of the main weaknesses of using USDT as a way around traditional financial controls. She said Tether can and does freeze addresses, arguing that the bigger issue is not whether an Iranian business can hold USDT but whether someone is willing to exchange it for rials or goods. That counterparty still has to operate in the real economy, where they may be identifiable and reachable through banks or other regulated businesses.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin and XRP traded higher despite rising geopolitical tensions after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had targeted Amazon’s data infrastructure in Bahrain with cruise missiles.
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