Iran Leans on Stablecoins as War Shakes Crypto Flows

Iran’s stablecoin strategy is getting worldwide attention amid the wider geopolitical turmoil. In this respect, during the airstrikes of February 28, the Central Bank of Iran halted the trading pair $USDT-toman to decrease currency repricing.

This indicates the systemic significance of stablecoins in the country’s economy. Additionally, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has revealed that stablecoins occupied up to 84% of Iran’s illegal crypto volumes during 2025.

$10B Crypto-Led Economy of Iran Undergoes Stress-Test Amid War

In the early days of February 2026, the reports disclosed that the crypto transfer volumes of Iran had touched an approximate $8-$10B in 2025. In this respect, the Central Bank of Iran purchased a minimum of $507M in $USDT over 2025. This denotes a refined plan to circumvent the worldwide banking framework.

The market reports point out that a considerable amount of the crypto activity of Iran was associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Specifically, when Iran underwent US-Israeli strikes on February 28 and the worsening conditions in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, the internet connectivity of the country plunged by ninety-nine percent.

This caused crypto transfer volumes to slump by 80%, and exchanges jumped into defensive mode, halting withdrawals while entering batch processing.

Iran Leverages Stablecoins as Part of Sanction Evasion Strategy

Along with that, the Iranian Central Bank ordered crypto exchanges to stop the $USDT-toman pair. Subsequently, at the time when trading restarted, the dislocated prices and the shrunken order books disclosed a fragile market outlook without its crucial pair. Even then, while common citizens in Iran lost access amid the blackout, regime-related actors may have kept transacting funds quietly.

Recently, FATF issued a report on stablecoins as well as unhosted wallets, referring to the eighty-four percent of illegitimate crypto volumes during 2025 that included stablecoins. The report clearly pointed toward Iranian actors while also urging issuers to rapidly adopt freeze, deny-listing, and burn capabilities.

As a result, this case underscores the paradox the core of stablecoins, as the same dollar-pegged assets that are primary for legitimate payments across borders have become an instrument for the evasion of sanctions.