Iran's central bank has officially authorized the use of Bitcoin and Tether's USDT stablecoin for international business transactions, aiming to bypass US sanctions. In 2025, about $10 billion in digital currency flowed through Iranian networks, with Iran controlling roughly 4.5% of global Bitcoin mining. The US Treasury has aggressively targeted Iranian crypto activities in 2026, freezing over $1 billion in assets and sanctioning major Iranian crypto platforms. This move highlights Iran's growing reliance on cryptocurrency to stabilize its economy and evade sanctions, while the US intensifies enforcement efforts.
On October 20, three large cryptocurrency transfers totaling $222.6 million were made to exchanges within a three-hour window. An unknown wallet sent 112 million USDT (Tether) worth $111.9 million to Bitfinex at 2:11 p.m. ET. Shortly after, 24,544 ET...
Eleven major cryptocurrency transfers totaling $1.16 billion occurred over three hours on October 20. Significant Bitcoin transfers included 2,111 BTC worth $175.3 million sent to Coinbase Institutional, alongside four other transfers totaling $470.3...
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino defended the company's record of freezing flagged wallets, stating they often act weeks before U.S. sanctions or seizure orders. However, Senate investigators highlighted a delay in freezing 34 wallet addresses linked to Hezb...
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company has frozen wallet addresses linked to Iran, reducing stablecoin transaction volume by 94%. This challenges Senate minority staff allegations that Tether failed to freeze illicit wallets associated with...
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino responded to a Senate Democrats report accusing the company of enabling significant financial activity in Iran. Ardoino highlighted that Tether freezes suspicious transactions well before official sanctions are imposed, claim...
