FT: Iran Eases FX Rules to Use Crypto, Bitcoin to Evade U.S. Sanctions

Iran’s central bank has eased foreign-exchange rules to allow the use of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin for trade settlement, in a move to bypass U.S. economic sanctions, the Financial Times reported on September 9.

The Central Bank of Iran recently relaxed the rules to encourage domestic companies to repatriate earnings generated overseas, the FT said.

The change allows Iranian companies to settle cross-border trade payments in Bitcoin or Tether through domestic cryptocurrency exchanges.

Exporters can also use foreign-currency earnings directly to pay for imports rather than selling them on a government foreign-exchange platform at the official rate. Previously, exporters had to send a large share of their overseas foreign-currency earnings back to Iran and exchange them at the official rate through a government-run platform.

The measure gives companies an option to settle trade payments without going through the traditional finance, or TradFi, system.

The U.S., meanwhile, is stepping up pressure on Iran’s crypto financing networks. In June, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions arm, sanctioned four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges, including Wallex and Nobitex, as part of Operation Economic Fury.

Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs said in an analysis released in June that $3.84 billion of fund flows occurred over the past seven years between global exchange CoinEx and Iranian entities targeted by U.S. sanctions.