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BTC Iran relaxes foreign exchange controls to encourage companies to repatriate overseas earnings through cryptocurrencies
It is reported that in the context of increasingly tightening U.S. sanctions, the Central Bank of Iran has relaxed foreign exchange control measures aimed at encouraging companies to repatriate overseas earnings domestically, including using cryptocurrencies for settlement. According to the Financial Times, this new measure allows companies to use TEDA (USDT) and Bitcoin (BTC) to settle cross-border transactions through cryptocurrency exchanges in Iran.
Under the new arrangement, exporters can use overseas earnings to directly fund imports without first having to sell their foreign currency holdings at the government's official exchange rate. It is reported that USDT has become the most commonly used cryptocurrency in cross-border commercial payments in Iran.
Rift in sanctions enforcement widens
The shift comes as U.S. authorities step up pressure on Iran's financial network. The U.S. Treasury Department's "Operation Economic Fury" sanctions against Iran's cryptocurrency-based financial infrastructure has confiscated approximately US$1 billion in Iranian crypto assets as of the end of May 2026. The action imposed sanctions on four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges in early June 2026 and froze more than $130 million in wallets directly linked to Iran's central bank.
Meanwhile, in an enforcement operation in April 2026, stablecoin issuer Tether froze $344 million in USDT related to sanctioned Iranian wallets. Data from blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs shows that the volume of cryptocurrency transactions involved in Iran in 2025 will be approximately US$9.9 billion, down from US$11.4 billion in 2024.
CoinEx's role controversy
TRM Labs pointed out that CoinEx serves as a gateway to Iran's cryptocurrency space. Over the past seven years, the company has tracked more than $3.84 billion in financial flows between the exchange and sanctioned Iranian entities. TRM Labs stated that CoinEx has become the largest single trading partner of Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, with approximately US$2.7 billion in capital flows linked to it.
CoinEx denies having any business relationship with Iranian exchanges or government entities and said it has begun withdrawing from Iran-related business. The exchange further stated that it had been blacklisted by the Iranian government as early as 2021 and had never established an operating entity in the country.
The broader picture suggests a structural shift in the way sanctioned economies interact with global financial markets. TRM Labs said the continued high trading volume in Iranian crypto activity reflects structural demand rather than purely speculative trading. As Tehran officially tolerates the use of cryptocurrencies for trade settlement, the gap between sanctions policies and on-chain enforcement appears to be widening.
