Iran keeps using bitcoin to move money across its borders as sanctions tighten, with the country's central bank quietly encouraging traders to keep cash flowing, the Financial Times reported. The report follows earlier U.S. Treasury findings that Iranian entities used bitcoin to bypass sanctions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran is continuing to use bitcoin to settle cross-border transactions through Iranian crypto exchanges, according to the Financial Times, as the country's central bank looks the other way. The newspaper reported that the central bank had quietly encouraged traders to get money flowing to help the struggling economy.
Central bank turns a blind eye
Citing conversations with businesses, regime insiders and analysts, the Financial Times said bitcoin is proving to be a tried and tested way of moving funds. One business insider told the newspaper that the central bank doesn't ask any questions about how money is transferred.
Iran has been sanctioned for decades, but the pressure escalated sharply beginning in late 2025 with a UN snapback, EU measures and expanded U.S. energy sanctions. That escalation was compounded by war with the U.S. and Israel starting in February 2026 and a naval blockade that has cut oil exports by more than 80%. The country also has one of the highest inflation rates in the world.
Earlier this year, Iran started a bitcoin-backed insurance service for its country's shipping companies. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in July that Hormuz Safe, developed by Iran's Ministry of Economy, "accepts payment in Bitcoin and other digital assets", a mechanism it said lets Iran bypass sanctions on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Bitcoin resists the freeze that hit Tether
The U.S. also said in July that it had frozen crypto linked to the Iranian regime, mostly in the form of Tether's stablecoin. Stablecoins like USDT can be frozen by the company that issues the asset, but bitcoin, being decentralized and having no single issuer, cannot.
Fighting between the U.S., Israel and Iran started in February 2026 and has continued in phases since. A Pakistan-brokered ceasefire in April and a short-lived memorandum in June both collapsed, and there is currently no ceasefire in place.
Source: Bitcoin Magazine
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
