Iran allows exporters of commercial cryptocurrencies to repatriate earnings: Financial Times

Iran's central bank turns to cryptocurrency: New paths and potential risks for exporters

According to the Financial Times, the Central Bank of Iran has overturned years of strict capital control policies and instead guided exporters to use cryptocurrency for cross-border trade settlement. Regulators lifted the mandatory requirement that exporters must surrender hard currency to the state at the official exchange rate and encouraged them to use Tether and Bitcoin to trade. For Iranian companies subject to sanctions, this opens up a payment channel that is difficult for the US dollar system to effectively regulate.

The NIMA system has caused hundreds of billions of dollars in earnings to be stranded overseas.

On the open market, the exchange rate of the rial against the US dollar currently fluctuates between 1.8 million and 2 million, a level that reflects the Iranian people's lack of confidence in their own currency. The so-called open market exchange rate, that is, the actual price at which people buy dollars on the street, is far lower than the exchange rate printed through official national channels. This huge price difference forms the core of the problem.

Under the old system, exporters had to process their overseas earnings through Iran's Integrated Foreign Exchange System (NIMA) and sell them at a government-set exchange rate lower than the actual market price. Selling a dollar earned abroad at a price well below its street value is essentially a disguised tax. As a result, many exporters have stopped repatriating funds home. It is estimated that about $100 billion in proceeds is being held overseas.

Iran does not lack the infrastructure for large-scale adoption of cryptocurrencies. Data from blockchain analysis firm Elliptic shows that about US$10 billion in funds will flow through Iran's networks and local exchanges in 2025, and the country still accounts for about 4.5% of global bitcoin mining, mainly relying on low-cost electricity operation from state subsidies.

Two paths back to Iran from overseas wallets

Once countries no longer set obstacles, the mechanism becomes simple and clear. Overseas buyers pay TEDA or Bitcoin to Iranian exporters in wallets located overseas. Funds can then enter Iran through one of two routes:

Path A: Direct settlement
Exporters use cryptocurrency directly to pay for imported raw materials and goods, and make payments directly to foreign suppliers or another domestic company. Funds do not need to go through the NIMA system or the SWIFT banking network.

Path B: Local repurchase
Exporters convert cryptocurrencies for local value through Iran's domestic exchange, thereby bringing wealth back to the country, while the central bank avoids questioning the source and flow of funds.

Executives close to the authorities said cryptocurrency-denominated payments are now "completely routine." The central bank relaxed its supervision of local exchanges rather than tightened controls, in stark contrast to its stance when it blocked the Rial Gateway of retail cryptocurrency platforms earlier this year.

Freezability of TEDA and Washington's sanctions

Although convenience is provided, this does not mean that the channel is absolutely safe. TEDA is based on centralized smart contracts, and its issuers cooperate with requests from U.S. law enforcement agencies, which means that Iran's wallets could be frozen externally without Tehran's cooperation.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has pushed Washington to strengthen its economic isolation of Iran, and the results are already evident on the chain. After working with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, U.S. authorities froze approximately $131 million in TEDA held in four wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran as part of a larger seizure of approximately $1 billion in Iranian crypto assets.

Scale effects are another limiting factor. About $10 billion in shadow flows is just a drop in the bucket for multi-billion national trade accounts. This workaround relieved the pressure, but did not fill the gap. Iran still faces persistent shortages of industrial inputs and basic imported goods.

Risk Matrix

Risk Type Specific performance Consequences Centralized stablecoin TEDA can freeze wallets at US request About US$131 million of TEDA coins related to the Central Bank of Iran have been frozen Insufficient liquidity About US$10 billion in traffic cannot meet billions of dollars in trade demand Shortage of industrial products and basic daily necessities Secondary Sanctions US targets any exchange that comes into contact with Iranian financial flows Platforms such as CoinEx clean up Iranian users to avoid losing access to Western markets

Core of the next battle: TEDA's freeze button

The current pressure point is concentrated on exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) brokers exposed to Iranian capital flows. U.S. secondary sanctions apply to any foreign platform that provides services to sanctioned actors, which is why venues like CoinEx choose to divest Iranian accounts rather than risk losing access to Western markets.

The more difficult issue is the TEDA coin itself. Compliance that allows Iranian businessmen to hold the value of U.S. dollars also gives issuers the ability to freeze funds. Each freeze prompts users to switch to Bitcoin or decentralized stablecoins, assets that are harder to confiscate and harder to consume. Whether other sanctioned economies will follow Iran's model will depend on how much overseas earnings actually flow back home, and this will largely depend not on the technology itself, but on the actual effect of the return of funds.