Iranian Rial Falls to Historic Low: New U.S. Sanctions Target Digital Assets for the First Time

The Iranian rial fell to a historic low this week, with the open market exchange rate dropping to about 202,000 rials for 1 US dollar, compared to about 1.53 million rials in the first quarter. During the same period, the US government launched the "Economic Outcast Initiative," adding more than 60 entities to the Treasury Department's blacklist and for the first time designating digital assets as a sanctionable area.

State-owned farms associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) control about 65% of Iran's Bitcoin mining capacity. Iranian miners have accounted for about 3% to 7% of global Bitcoin hash power since 2019, with the mined Bitcoin valued at approximately $1.35 billion to $3.15 billion at different stages. Iran legalized Bitcoin mining in 2019, allowing licensed operators to use industrial electricity at about $0.004 per kilowatt-hour and sell the mined tokens to the Central Bank of Iran.

Chainalysis estimates that by the fourth quarter of 2025, IRGC-associated wallets will receive over $3 billion; Elliptic states that the Central Bank of Iran holds at least $507 million in USDT. In June, the US Treasury sanctioned Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex. Nobitex had previously handled more than half of Iran's digital asset inflows; in April, the US Treasury seized nearly $500 million in crypto assets related to Iran.