**Iran's Central Bank Digs into Digital Assets to Combat Currency Collapse and Evade Sanctions**

The Central Bank of Iran has been found to have accumulated over $507 million in USDT (Tether) to circumvent sanctions and access offshore dollar liquidity, according to a report by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. This development highlights the growing trend of nations using digital assets as a means to bypass traditional financial systems.

The report reveals that a network of wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran was used in a coordinated strategy to evade sanctions and inject stablecoins into the local market. Two significant USDT purchases were made in April and May 2025, paid for in Emirati dirhams. These funds initially flowed through Nobitex, Iran's largest crypto exchange.

The use of digital assets by the Central Bank of Iran appears to have been a deliberate attempt to stabilize the collapsing rial. The Iranian currency has been under immense pressure due to blocked access to SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) and US dollar clearing. In response, the central bank shifted tactics following a June 2025 hack on Nobitex by the pro-Israel group Gonjeshke Darande, which destroyed $90 million in crypto.

After the hack, funds were moved through cross-chain bridges from TRON to Ethereum, converted on decentralized exchanges, and routed through centralized exchanges. Elliptic suggests that the central bank treated USDT as a digital eurodollar system immune to seizure, using it for open market operations and cross-border trade.

Despite efforts by the central bank to obfuscate its transactions, the infrastructure remained traceable. In June 2025, Tether froze $37 million in wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran, further underscoring the growing trend of nations embracing digital assets as a means to circumvent traditional financial systems.

**Key Findings:**

* The Central Bank of Iran accumulated over $507 million in USDT to evade sanctions and access offshore dollar liquidity. * Two significant USDT purchases were made in April and May 2025, paid for in Emirati dirhams. * Funds initially flowed through Nobitex, Iran's largest crypto exchange. * After a June 2025 hack on Nobitex, funds were moved through cross-chain bridges from TRON to Ethereum, converted on decentralized exchanges, and routed through centralized exchanges. * Elliptic suggests that the central bank used USDT for open market operations and cross-border trade, treating it as a digital eurodollar system immune to seizure.

**Implications:**

* The use of digital assets by nations to evade sanctions highlights a growing trend in geopolitics. * The Central Bank of Iran's actions demonstrate a deliberate attempt to stabilize the collapsing rial using digital assets. * The hack on Nobitex underscores the risks associated with relying on decentralized exchanges and cross-chain bridges for financial operations.