{"id":93419,"date":"2026-01-22T09:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=93419"},"modified":"2026-01-22T09:50:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:50:28","slug":"elliptic-analysts-reveal-irans-central-bank-acquired-500-million-in-stablecoins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/elliptic-analysts-reveal-irans-central-bank-acquired-500-million-in-stablecoins\/","title":{"rendered":"Elliptic Analysts Reveal Iran&#8217;s Central Bank Acquired $500 Million in Stablecoins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Central Bank of Iran has acquired stablecoins <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-tether-usdt\">USDT<\/a> valued at $507 million, according to Elliptic experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 New Elliptic research: We have identified wallets used by Iran&#8217;s Central Bank to acquire at least $507 million worth of cryptoassets.<\/p>\n<p>The findings suggest that the Iranian regime used these cryptoassets to evade sanctions and support the plummeting value of Iran&#8217;s currency,\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I7NHGO0wtP\">pic.twitter.com\/I7NHGO0wtP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elliptic (@elliptic) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elliptic\/status\/2013856149863350634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The bulk of the funds were purchased by the regulator in the spring of 2025. With sanctions and disconnection from the SWIFT system, cryptocurrencies became the country&#8217;s sole alternative to international bank transfers.<\/p>\n<p>According to the analysis, until <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/hackers-breach-iranian-exchange-nobitex-for-81-7-million\">the hack in June<\/a>, the Central Bank directed most of the funds to Nobitex, Iran&#8217;s largest crypto exchange for trading and selling digital assets for the local currency (Iranian rial).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After the hacking attack on the platform, the bank changed its strategy, adopting a more complex scheme using decentralized <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-cross-chain-bridges\">cross-chain bridges<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-decentralised-exchange-dex\">DEX<\/a>, primarily on two networks: <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-tron-trx\">TRON<\/a> and Ethereum.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The regulator converted assets and moved them between blockchains before the final transfer to centralized platforms.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Does Iran&#8217;s Central Bank Need USDT?\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>Experts linked the Central Bank of Iran&#8217;s active accumulation of <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-stablecoins\">\u201cstablecoins\u201d<\/a> to economic instability. The buildup of reserves occurs against the backdrop of the <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/bitwise-ceo-sees-bitcoin-as-a-shield-against-irans-economic-collapse\">collapse of the national currency<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-1e34d9df645ddf54-4280720911333883-1024x480.png\" alt=\"image\" class=\"wp-image-273800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-1e34d9df645ddf54-4280720911333883-1024x480.png 1024w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-1e34d9df645ddf54-4280720911333883-300x141.png 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-1e34d9df645ddf54-4280720911333883-768x360.png 768w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-1e34d9df645ddf54-4280720911333883.png 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The exchange rate of the Iranian rial and the Central Bank&#8217;s USDT purchases. Source: Elliptic.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cThe main motivation for purchasing USDT is the desire to control currency markets. This aligns with blockchain activity. Directing funds to Nobitex indicates a strategy of injecting dollar liquidity into the local market to support the rial,\u201d they noted.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Analysts believe the Central Bank attempted to halt the decline of the Iranian rial by buying fiat with USDT on the exchange. The regulator used stablecoins for open market operations, typically conducted using foreign exchange reserves.<\/p>\n<p>The Central Bank is also building a \u201csanction-proof\u201d banking mechanism, according to Elliptic. By using \u201cstablecoins\u201d as an offshore account equivalent, Iran is creating a parallel financial infrastructure to store dollar value beyond the reach of American regulators.<\/p>\n<p>Stablecoins remain a primary tool for illicit operations. According to Chainalysis, over $154 billion flowed into illegal crypto wallets in 2025, with the majority in fiat-pegged assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStablecoins\u201d are also frequently used to circumvent sanctions. For instance, 80% of Venezuela&#8217;s oil revenue is <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/expert-80-of-venezuelas-oil-revenue-comes-in-usdt\">converted<\/a> into USDT.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Amid mass protests and the fall of the Iranian rial, citizens of the country sharply <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/iranians-increase-bitcoin-purchases-amid-protests-and-currency-collapse\">increased<\/a> the volume of Bitcoin withdrawals from exchanges to personal wallets.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Central Bank of Iran has acquired stablecoins USDT valued at $507 million, according to Elliptic experts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"Iran's Central Bank bought $507M in USDT, says Elliptic.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1535,840,807,1245],"class_list":["post-93419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-elliptic","tag-iran","tag-stablecoins","tag-tether-usdt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"207","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"Iran's Central Bank bought $507M in USDT, says Elliptic.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93421,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93419\/revisions\/93421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}