Iran Turns to Crypto Assets to Offset Rial Crisis, Report Says

The Central Bank of Iran bought more than $500 million in dollar-backed digital assets in the past year to mitigate a currency crisis and bypass US sanctions, blockchain analytics company Elliptic said in a report.

The CBI, which is struggling to manage overlapping economic challenges that have triggered deadly protests in recent weeks, made two purchases of Tether’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT in April and May 2025, Elliptic said Wednesday, citing leaked documents and its own research.