Iran’s Central Bank Turns to USDT as Rial Slides, Elliptic Finds

Iran’s Central Bank quietly amassed more than $500 million in Tether’s USDT during 2025 as the country’s currency crisis worsened, according to new analysis from crypto security firm Elliptic. The activity points to a coordinated, state-level strategy to shore up trade and liquidity while skirting restrictions in the global banking system.

Elliptic says it identified a cluster of wallets linked to the Central Bank of Iran that accumulated at least $507 million in USDT over the year. The buying coincided with a sharp deterioration in the rial, which sank to historic lows on the open market and lost much of its practical usefulness for savings and cross-border commerce by early 2026.

Although the currency never officially collapsed to zero, multiple exchange rates, persistent inflation, and fading confidence pushed households and businesses toward dollars, gold, and crypto-denominated stores of value. Sanctions pressure amplified the strain, limiting Iran’s access to dollar clearing and correspondent banking even when export revenues were available.

Leaked documents reviewed by Elliptic show two early purchases in April and May 2025, paid for in UAE dirhams. From there, investigators mapped a broader wallet network that suggested steady accumulation rather than sporadic experimentation with crypto.

Initially, most USDT flowed into Nobitex, Iran’s largest domestic exchange, where it could be held, traded, or converted into rials—effectively serving as a parallel dollar reserve. That pattern changed in June 2025. Following a $90 million hack of Nobitex on June 18, funds were rerouted through cross-chain bridges from TRON to Ethereum, then swapped on decentralized exchanges and moved across multiple platforms through the end of the year.

The shift reduced reliance on a single domestic venue and increased the complexity of fund movements, consistent with efforts to manage risk and maintain access amid heightened scrutiny.

Local reporting has since intensified debate over the Central Bank’s crypto operations. Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani claimed USDT was used to manage the foreign exchange market and routed through wallets tied to a national banking technology unit. He alleged that wallet addresses were rapidly exposed and later flagged by hostile actors, raising concerns about potential data leaks inside sensitive institutions.

While those claims remain unproven, the findings have fueled calls for greater transparency around how state entities deploy digital assets during periods of financial stress.