Is crypto legal in Iran? Regulation & rules (2026)

President Pezeshkian formally assigned the Central Bank of Iran as the sole authority over the cryptocurrency market in January 2025. The CBI had approved its Policy and Regulatory Framework for Cryptocurrencies in December 2024, developed in coordination with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and the Cyberspace Council.

Using cryptocurrency as a means of payment for goods and services remains prohibited. All rial-to-crypto and crypto-to-rial flows must pass through CBI-approved accounts via a government-controlled API that enables real-time transaction surveillance.

In September 2025 the CBI imposed strict limits on stablecoins: individual and corporate purchases are capped at $5,000 per year, and total holdings may not legally exceed $10,000. Separately, Elliptic reported that the CBI acquired $507 million in Tether USDT to support the rial exchange rate.

Iran enacted the Law on Taxation of Speculation and Profiteering in August 2025, for the first time subjecting crypto-trading gains to capital-gains-style taxation, treating crypto alongside gold, real estate, and forex. Implementation is phased.

On 24 April 2026, the US Treasury OFAC updated its designation of the Central Bank of Iran by adding cryptocurrency wallet addresses to the SDN list. Tether and US authorities froze approximately $344 million in USDT linked to those addresses, citing transactions with Iranian exchanges and CBI-associated wallets.

The CBI is developing a state-controlled Central Bank Digital Currency known as the Digital Rial (Ramzrial). A limited pilot on Kish Island allows customers to pay via digital wallet, positioning the CBDC as a controlled substitute for decentralised digital assets.