Is Crypto Regulated in Iran? What You Need to Know in 2025

Is crypto regulated in Iran? The answer isn’t simple. It’s not fully legal, not fully banned - it’s controlled. In 2025, Iran has one of the most tightly monitored cryptocurrency environments on the planet, where the government allows trading only under strict conditions, monitors every transaction, and punishes unauthorized activity. If you’re trying to use crypto in Iran, you’re not just dealing with market volatility - you’re navigating a state-run system designed to track, tax, and limit your access.

Iran’s Crypto Rules Are Built on Sanctions and Survival

Iran’s relationship with cryptocurrency didn’t start because people loved Bitcoin. It started because the country was cut off from the global banking system. After years of U.S. and UN sanctions blocked access to SWIFT, Iranian businesses and citizens turned to crypto to buy essentials, send money abroad, and protect savings from hyperinflation. By 2020, Iranians were trading $16-20 million in crypto every day. The government didn’t stop them - it watched. And then it stepped in.

In 2024, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) made a major move: it cut off all direct links between crypto exchanges and Iranian rial accounts. That meant you could no longer buy Bitcoin with cash from your local bank. The goal? Bring crypto under state control. By January 2025, President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a new directive that made the CBI the only legal authority for crypto regulation. Now, every exchange, miner, and trader needs a government license - and every transaction flows through a government-approved gateway.

You Can’t Trade Crypto Freely - Even If You Have the Money

The rules are clear, but they’re also constantly changing. Here’s what’s allowed - and what’s not - in 2025:

• Buying crypto with rials? Only through government-licensed exchanges like Nobitex. You must verify your identity, and the process can take 3-5 days.
• Mining Bitcoin? Legal only if you sell all your coins directly to the Central Bank. Most miners went underground because energy prices for licensed operations are too high to profit.
• Using stablecoins like USDT? You can hold up to $10,000 and buy no more than $5,000 per year. Any more, and you risk having your wallet frozen. Tether froze over 40 Iranian-linked addresses in July 2025, and the government didn’t stop it.
• Advertising crypto? Completely banned. No ads on social media, billboards, or websites. Even mentioning crypto in public posts can get you flagged.

These aren’t suggestions. They’re laws. And enforcement is growing. The CBI has full access to every transaction record. If you’re trading on an unlicensed platform, you’re not just breaking rules - you’re leaving a digital trail the state can use against you.

The State Has Its Own Crypto - And It’s Not Bitcoin

While Iran restricts Bitcoin and Ethereum, it’s pushing its own digital currency: the Rial Currency. Unlike Bitcoin, it’s not decentralized. It’s not mined. It’s not anonymous. It’s just an electronic version of the Iranian rial - controlled entirely by the Central Bank.

The government plans to expand Rial Currency to everyday payments by mid-2026. Why? Because it can track every purchase, stop black-market spending, and avoid the risk of foreign crypto undermining its monetary control. It’s a digital wallet that answers to Tehran - not to users.

This creates a strange duality: Iran lets people use foreign crypto to bypass sanctions, but only if the government can see it. Meanwhile, it builds its own system to replace it entirely.

How Iranians Are Working Around the Rules

Despite the restrictions, crypto use hasn’t disappeared - it’s just gone underground. Around 60% of crypto trading in Iran now happens through unofficial channels, according to Chainalysis. Here’s how people are getting around the system:

• VPNs and foreign exchanges: Many Iranians use VPNs to access Binance, Kraken, or Coinbase. But this is risky - the government can detect VPN use and may block accounts.
• Switching from USDT to DAI: After Tether froze Iranian wallets, users rushed to DAI, a decentralized stablecoin on the Polygon network. DAI doesn’t answer to any company, so it’s harder to freeze.
• Peer-to-peer trades: People meet in person or use Telegram groups to swap crypto for cash, avoiding exchanges entirely.

One Reddit user in October 2025 wrote: “The new system adds 3-5% fees, but at least I don’t wake up to find my account frozen.” That’s the trade-off: slower, more expensive, but more predictable.

Taxes, Fines, and the Risk of Sanctions

In August 2025, Iran introduced its first crypto capital gains tax. Now, profits from trading Bitcoin or Ethereum are taxed like real estate or gold. The Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to link crypto tax reports to existing financial systems by mid-2026. If you made $10,000 from crypto last year, you owe taxes - and the government knows it.

There’s also a bigger threat: international sanctions. When Tether froze Iranian wallets, it wasn’t just a business decision - it was pressure from the U.S. Treasury. If Iran’s crypto system is seen as helping evade sanctions, more banks and platforms will cut ties. Economists warn that if the Central Bank is linked to illicit activity, Iran could face even harsher penalties.

Some experts think Iran’s approach is smart - it brings crypto into the light so it can tax it, track it, and control it. Others say it’s self-sabotage. By making crypto so hard to use legally, the government pushes people toward riskier, unregulated channels - and loses control anyway.

What Does This Mean for You?

If you’re in Iran and want to use crypto in 2025, here’s what you need to know:

• Don’t trust unlicensed exchanges. They’re not protected - and your money could vanish overnight.
• Stay under the $10,000 stablecoin limit. Go over it, and you’ll be forced to sell or risk freezing.
• Use DAI instead of USDT if possible. It’s harder for companies to block.
• Expect delays. Account approvals, support replies, and transaction confirmations take days - not hours.
• Don’t advertise crypto. Even sharing a link on Instagram could get your account shut down.

The bottom line: crypto in Iran isn’t about freedom. It’s about survival - and the state is the only one who gets to decide how much you can have, how you can use it, and when you lose it.

What’s Next for Crypto in Iran?

By 2026, Iran will likely phase out most decentralized crypto for everyday use, replacing it with the Rial Currency. Mining will remain restricted to state-approved operations - if they exist at all. The market may shrink further: TRM Labs reports a 11% drop in crypto inflows in the first half of 2025.

But if global sanctions ease - say, through a new nuclear deal - Iran could suddenly loosen restrictions. Until then, crypto here isn’t an investment. It’s a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with your own government.