Iran allows businesses to use USDT and Bitcoin for cross-border transactions

Iran tacitly allows businesses to use USDT and Bitcoin for cross-border transactions to circumvent foreign exchange controls, with approximately $10 billion worth of cryptocurrency flowing through Iran by 2025. The Iranian central bank encourages businesses to repatriate overseas funds through cryptocurrency exchanges, allowing them to directly use their export earnings for importing goods. There are over 10 million US dollars of unreported earnings in Iran, and more than 20000 individuals and businesses have failed to fulfill their obligation to repatriate 94 million euros of export revenue. According to Elliptic data, Iran accounts for 4.5% of global Bitcoin mining activities, and Tether has frozen $344 million in assets related to the Iranian central bank. The US Treasury Department has warned that related transactions face the risk of sanctions.