Iran turns to crypto to get around sanctions

{"text":[[{"start":7.04,"text":"Iran is turning to cryptocurrencies to try and keep trade flowing during the US war and blockade, relaxing its strict foreign currency controls in order to counter tightening sanctions."}],[{"start":18.72,"text":"Long cut out of the global financial system, Iran has for years imposed onerous hurdles on importers and exporters in order to control the supply of foreign currency, prompting businesses to build up what the judiciary estimates is more than $100bn in undeclared earnings at home and overseas."}],[{"start":37.46,"text":"But Iranian businesses, regime insiders and analysts say the central bank has in recent months quietly encouraged traders to repatriate funds by whatever means necessary to help sustain the battered economy."}],[{"start":50.16,"text":"This includes using cryptocurrencies, notably Tether but also bitcoin, to settle cross-border transactions through Iranian crypto exchanges, the people said."}],[{"start":60.36,"text":"Under this more relaxed system, traders can also exchange foreign currency through the country’s large open market rather than using government-approved rates, and can use export proceeds to finance imports directly, without having to channel their earnings through the official foreign-exchange system."}],[{"start":77.48,"text":"“The central bank doesn’t ask how that money was transferred,” one business executive who is close to the regime said, adding that the relaxation had become prevalent since the US and Israel launched the war in February. “Receiving cryptocurrencies for exports is now totally established.”"}],[{"start":93.84,"text":"The central bank declined to comment."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":96.16,"text":"Iran has spent years building a system designed to circumvent sanctions, including with the help of cryptocurrencies, but its efforts to find alternative means to sustain cross-border transactions have taken on added urgency during the war."}],[{"start":109.92,"text":"The US, which has for months blockaded Iranian ports, has shifted its strategy to economic pressure in an effort to isolate Tehran, threatening sanctions on Iran’s trading partners. Washington has so far announced plans to impose sanctions on Egyptian and Turkish banks, and companies associated with Iranian aviation."}],[{"start":129.7,"text":"The Treasury also threatened anyone transacting with Iran using digital assets, saying that “the Iranian regime increasingly turns to cryptocurrency as a tool of choice for sanctions evasion”."}],[{"start":141.48,"text":"Donald Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to make the US a crypto “superpower”, has himself made more than $1bn from digital assets. Trump has taken steps to boost the industry and his sons have launched multiple family crypto businesses since he returned to the White House."}],[{"start":157.48,"text":"Before the war, Iranian exporters of oil and other goods were required to return a large proportion of their earnings to Iran in foreign currency and sell them through a designated government-run platform at official exchange rates, which were often far below the market price."}],[{"start":173.08,"text":"This unpopular system led many exporters to park funds overseas or bring them back without declaring them. Zabihollah Khodaian, head of Iran’s General Inspection Organisation, said last month that more than 20,000 individuals and companies had failed to meet commitments to return the equivalent of €94bn."}],[{"start":193.52,"text":"Khodaian said that among them were state-owned oil and gas companies, including the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, the National Iranian Gas Company and the Iranian Offshore Oil Company, which he said had “chaotic accounts”."}],[{"start":208.48,"text":"While foreign currency exchange houses in neighbouring countries remain the main channel for businesses to repatriate funds, the central bank’s recent relaxation is designed to give them more options for settling at least part of those obligations, the people said."}],[{"start":222.76,"text":"Tether, a dollar-linked stablecoin, is particularly useful because it is designed to maintain a stable value against the US dollar. Tether declined to comment, but in April froze $344mn worth of its stablecoin in wallets identified by US authorities as linked to the Iranian central bank."}],[{"start":243.34,"text":"In 2025, nearly $10bn worth of crypto was moved through Iran, according to data group TRM Labs."}],[{"start":251.76,"text":"For Iranians, crypto “is not just a novelty or a hobby . . . this is a country that’s been excluded by [global payments systems] for quite a while” and therefore “we’ve seen cryptocurrency adoption grow as a response to the structural realities of geopolitics”, said Eitan Danon, strategic national security adviser at blockchain data group Chainalysis, who was previously at the US Treasury."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":274.28,"text":"Alireza Bozorgmehri, a member of industry body the Iran Digital Transformation Association, acknowledged that the central bank had loosened scrutiny of crypto exchanges and “no longer insists” on strictly enforcing its rules."}],[{"start":284.2,"text":"But while the volume of transactions at Iranian crypto exchanges had increased, Bozorgmehri was sceptical that this would ever be enough to meet Iran’s enormous needs."}],[{"start":296.52,"text":"One industrial exporter, who has a medium-sized steel business that trades with China, said he had not yet used crypto but was now allowed to use his export earnings to import materials directly."}],[{"start":308.04,"text":"“Regulations in general have relaxed,” he said. “Before, we had to give a commitment to bring back our income from exports to the country in foreign currencies and sell them on a special platform at lower prices, which was ridiculous.”"}],[{"start":321.48,"text":"“Now, exporters are allowed to use their money to import whatever they need for their own businesses,” he continued."}],[{"start":327.24,"text":"In addition to easing its rules, Iranian authorities have also sought to crack down on businesses it says continue to sit on undeclared funds."}],[{"start":335,"text":"Khodaian, of the General Inspection Organisation, said that 219 individuals and companies were under investigation over €23.5bn in missing funds. Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Ali Kazemi said on Tuesday that 22 people linked to oil traders have been arrested, while warrants were issued for 19 others."}],[{"start":356.12,"text":"Iran has over the years been able to earn cryptocurrencies through bitcoin mining, helped by cheap domestic energy."}],[{"start":362.72,"text":"Blockchain analytics company Elliptic estimates that 4.5 per cent of all bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, which it said allows “the country to circumvent trade embargoes and earn hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptoassets that can be used to purchase imports and bypass sanctions”."}],[{"start":379.64,"text":"But Saeed Laylaz, a political economist in Tehran, said digital assets have become all the more important in light of the latest US efforts to close Iran’s remaining financial channels with the world."}],[{"start":390.04,"text":"“The more the economy goes underground, the more there is a need to use cryptocurrencies,” said Laylaz. “The blockade has holes.”"}],[{"start":397.88,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788935034_2745.mp3"}