US sanctions on Iran’s largest cryptocurrency platform are aimed at intensifying the economic squeeze on Tehran but could also hurt ordinary Iranians and businesses, experts say.Iran has been largely cut off from the global financial system for years due to US sanctions, leading Iranian state institutions and citizens to turn to cryptocurrency to transact with the world.The US Treasury on June 2 imposed sanctions on Nobitex, saying the platform was being used by Iran’s central bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a US-designated terrorist organization, to evade sanctions.But the move is also a blow to ordinary Iranians, who have been grappling with a deepening economic crisis exacerbated by the United States and Israel’s three-month-long war against the Islamic republic, experts say.
Masoumeh Taherkhani, an economic analyst based in London, said US sanctions against the cryptocurrency platform pose two major problems for Iranians.“The first is psychological. Even if wallets inside Iran are not directly affected, sanctions create anxiety and uncertainty, and people may decide to withdraw their money simply because they no longer feel secure,” she told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.“The second problem arises if customers try to move their assets abroad,” Taherkhani added.“Funds originating from sanctioned -- effectively tainted -- platforms are likely to face compliance obstacles when transferred to international companies.”Cryptocurrency usage in Iran has expanded in recent years amid persistent inflation and restricted access to global finance.Taherkhani said many Iranians have turned to digital assets to preserve the value of their savings as the country’s national currency, the rial, plunges to new record lows.
