Iran Central Bank Opens Bitcoin, USDT Channel for $100B in Undeclared Earnings

Iran Opens a Crypto Channel for Export Earnings

Iran's central bank has quietly relaxed foreign-currency controls to let traders bring export earnings home in cryptocurrency, with Tether's USDT and Bitcoin (BTC) both in active use, as Tehran works to keep trade flowing under tightening U.S. sanctions. Businesses report that authorities eased the rules in recent months, permitting cross-border settlement through domestic crypto exchanges, according to the Financial Times, citing regime insiders and analysts. The shift addresses a long-standing obstacle for exporters: firms previously had to return a large share of foreign earnings through a government-run platform at official exchange rates that often traded below market levels, giving them a clear incentive to leave revenue overseas or repatriate it undeclared. Under the relaxed regime, traders can convert foreign currency at market rates and apply export proceeds directly to their own import payments without routing funds through the official system. The sums involved are substantial. Iranian authorities estimate businesses have accumulated more than $100 billion in undeclared earnings at home and abroad. Alireza Bozorgmehri, a member of the Iran Digital Transformation Association, said the central bank has also eased its scrutiny of crypto exchanges. Iran has used crypto for trade before, placing a $10 million crypto-funded import order in 2022, but the channel carries enforcement risk. In July, Washington added four wallets linked to Iran's central bank to its sanctions list, prompting Tether to freeze $131 million in USDT — a reminder that a stablecoin issuer can block balances regardless of who controls the private keys. Last month the U.S. widened its crackdown to cover crypto, gold, shipping and technology, sharpening focus on the regime's estimated $7.8 billion crypto shadow economy, which leans on state-sponsored mining and stablecoins to bypass the dollar — a dynamic at odds with the Bitcoin Maximalism view of BTC as censorship-resistant money. Even now, foreign-exchange houses in neighboring countries remain the main repatriation route.

Citi Picks Japan for Tokenized Deposits

On a separate track, Citigroup plans to launch corporate cross-border transfers built on tokenized deposits in Japan within the year, becoming the first foreign financial institution to offer the service to Japanese companies. Shamir Ketkar, Citi's global head of services, disclosed the timeline in an interview with Nikkei. Tokenized deposits — bank balances digitized on blockchain rails, a regulated cousin of the tokenized real-world assets pushed by issuers like Ondo Finance — would let corporate clients move foreign currency instantly, 24 hours a day, including nights and holidays, freeing settlement from banking-hours constraints. Today, companies pre-send funds abroad ahead of payment deadlines to absorb arrival delays; with tokenized deposits, transfers arrive exactly when needed, removing that working-capital drag. Japan is one of five key markets Citi has singled out, and Ketkar said adding it would give the bank comprehensive coverage of major Asia-Pacific hubs. The service already runs across the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong and Ireland via Citi Token Services, which digitizes deposits on a permissioned blockchain rather than the open, cross-chain networks built on protocols like Wormhole. Citi moves roughly $6 trillion in funds per day worldwide; tokenized-deposit transfers alone already reach about $1 billion daily, roughly ¥154 billion. The bank has tested the technology for interbank settlement too: on September 5, Singapore's DBS Bank executed a weekend U.S. dollar payment against Citi's New York branch, completing in minutes a flow that traditionally takes up to two business days, using SWIFT's Swift Digital Ledger. That ledger entered initial operation on July 9, with 17 banks across six continents — including Citi, DBS, HSBC and UBS — running pilots. Citi is also working with SWIFT and The Clearing House on interbank connectivity, and major U.S. banks plan a shared tokenized-deposit network as early as the first half of 2027. Domestically, a pilot backed by Japan's FSA FinTech hub — 43 participants including Bank of Yokohama and Resona Holdings, led by DCP and GMO Aozora Net Bank — began verifying on-chain cross-bank settlement of tokenized deposits on August 20. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on MEXC.

Sanctions Pressure Meets Bank-Grade Rails

The two stories trace the same arc from opposite ends: settlement rails are being rebuilt around digital assets whether incumbent finance invites it or not. Iran's easing shows public-chain USDT and Bitcoin filling the gap left when sanctions cut a state out of dollar plumbing; Citi's Japan entry shows institutions adopting permissioned tokenized deposits to strip days out of cross-border flows. The official SWIFT announcement states the infrastructure side plainly: its blockchain ledger is ready for production use, with 17 banks across six continents piloting tokenized cross-border payments. Iran's $131 million USDT freeze is the cautionary footnote — control over these rails cuts in both directions.