Iranian Rial Crypto Trading Restrictions: What You Need to Know in 2026

Iranians can’t buy crypto with rials anymore-not legally, at least. Since December 2024, the Central Bank of Iran shut down every domestic exchange’s ability to convert Iranian rials to Bitcoin, Ethereum, or USDT. No bank transfers. No mobile payments. No peer-to-peer platforms operating inside the country. The goal? Stop the rial from collapsing faster. But people still trade crypto. They just have to work around the rules.

Why Did Iran Block Crypto-to-Rial Trading?

The Iranian rial has lost over 90% of its value since 2018. Sanctions cut off oil exports, inflation hit 50% in 2024, and ordinary people watched their savings vanish overnight. Crypto became the only safe escape. Bitcoin and Tether (USDT) turned into digital savings accounts. But the government saw a problem: people were moving money out of the country, bypassing capital controls, and weakening the state’s grip on the economy.

So in late 2024, the Central Bank of Iran made a hard move: block all rial-based crypto payments. Exchanges like Nobitex and Bitget Iran had to cut off bank links. You couldn’t deposit rials to buy USDT anymore. The idea was simple: if you can’t turn rials into crypto, you can’t drain the economy.

But You Can Still Mine Crypto-Here’s Why

Here’s the twist: Iran still encourages crypto mining. The country is now one of the top five Bitcoin mining nations, producing nearly 4.5% of the world’s hash rate. Why? Because mining uses cheap, government-subsidized electricity. The state profits from it. Miners pay taxes. They sell their Bitcoin overseas. The dollars come back into the system through state-approved channels. It’s a loophole: you can’t trade crypto for rials, but you can mine crypto and sell it abroad for hard currency.

The government even built special mining zones in remote areas, where electricity costs less than $0.01 per kWh. But there’s a catch: in 2025, they started limiting how much power miners can use. The grid was overloaded. Cities had blackouts. So now, miners need licenses, and their energy use is monitored. The state doesn’t want you to crash the power system-it just wants your Bitcoin.

Stablecoin Limits: $5,000 a Year, $10,000 Max

On September 27, 2025, Iran dropped its most specific rule yet: you can only buy $5,000 worth of stablecoins per year. And your total holdings? No more than $10,000. That’s not a suggestion. It’s a legal cap. If you have $12,000 in USDT, you had one month to sell down to $10,000-or risk losing access to your funds.

This targeted stablecoins because they’re the real lifeline. USDT isn’t volatile like Bitcoin. It’s pegged to the dollar. So Iranians use it to protect savings, pay for imports, or send money to family abroad. The Central Bank knew this. So they didn’t ban stablecoins-they just put a leash on them.

Tether itself froze over $100 million in Iranian-linked wallets in July 2025. Most of those wallets were tied to Nobitex and accounts linked to the IRGC. That sent shockwaves through the Iranian crypto community. People scrambled to move funds to DAI on Polygon, a cheaper, faster network that Tether couldn’t easily monitor. The shift happened fast. Within weeks, DAI became the new USDT in Iran.

No Ads, No Influencers, No Promotion

In February 2025, Iran banned all crypto advertising. No YouTube videos. No Instagram posts. No billboards. No TikTok tutorials. Even influencers who posted “how to buy Bitcoin” got fined or had their accounts shut down. The government didn’t want people thinking crypto was a good idea. They wanted people to focus on surviving the rial, not chasing digital assets.

But the ban didn’t stop trading. It just pushed it underground. People now use Telegram channels, private WhatsApp groups, and encrypted apps to share exchange links. The word “crypto” is avoided. Instead, users say “digital dollars” or “online gold.” It’s not perfect, but it works.

Iran’s Own Digital Currency: The Rial Currency

While cracking down on Bitcoin, Iran quietly launched its own digital currency: the Rial Currency. It’s not blockchain-based. It’s not decentralized. It’s just a digital version of the paper rial, controlled entirely by the Central Bank. Think of it like Apple Pay, but for the entire country.

A pilot program started on Kish Island, a tax-free zone where tourists and foreign businesses operate. The goal? Reduce reliance on the US dollar. The Rial Currency can’t be mined. You can’t trade it for Bitcoin. It’s only used for domestic payments-like paying for groceries or bus tickets. So far, adoption is slow. People don’t trust it. Why would you use a digital rial when the real rial keeps losing value?

Crypto Is Now Taxable-And Here’s How

In August 2025, Iran passed its first crypto tax law: the Law on Taxation of Speculation and Profiteering. For the first time, profits from crypto trading are taxed like real estate or gold. If you bought USDT for $8,000 and sold it for $12,000, you owe tax on the $4,000 gain.

The tax rate? Around 15-20%, depending on income level. The government hasn’t fully rolled out enforcement yet. But exchanges are now required to report transactions to tax authorities. If you’re trading on a licensed platform, they’ll send your data. If you’re trading privately? Good luck hiding it.

How Iranians Are Still Trading Crypto in 2026

Despite all the rules, Iranians are still buying and selling crypto. Here’s how:

• Border traders: People in border towns like Khoy or Zahedan buy USDT from Iraqi or Turkish traders using cash. No bank accounts needed.
• Foreign exchanges: Iranians use exchanges like Binance or Bybit, but they fund them through third-party payment processors in Turkey, UAE, or Armenia.
• Peer-to-peer cash trades: In Tehran, you’ll find people meeting in coffee shops to swap cash for USDT via mobile wallets.
• DAI on Polygon: After Tether’s freeze, DAI became the preferred stablecoin. It’s cheaper to transfer and harder to block.

The government knows this is happening. But cracking down on every cash trade or Telegram group is impossible. So they focus on the big players: exchanges, miners, and banks. The average person? They’re left alone-as long as they don’t make headlines.

What’s Next for Iran’s Crypto Scene?

Iran’s approach is unique. No other country bans domestic crypto trading while actively encouraging mining. But it’s not sustainable. The rial keeps falling. Inflation is still above 40%. People need a way to save. Crypto is the only option left.

The government may eventually soften the rules. Maybe they’ll allow small, licensed exchanges to operate with strict KYC. Maybe they’ll let people buy $10,000 in USDT per year instead of $5,000. But for now, the message is clear: you can hold crypto. You can mine it. But you can’t use it to save your rials.

The real test? If the rial drops below 500,000 to the dollar, will Iranians still care about the rules? Or will they just keep trading, no matter what?