Iran’s central bank has reportedly added $4.5 billion to its foreign currency reserves, a move that sounds impressive until you consider the backdrop: a currency in freefall, a sanctions regime targeting over 1,000 Iranian-linked entities, and hundreds of millions in frozen stablecoin holdings.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) is trying to stabilize a rial that has traded as low as roughly 1.4 million per US dollar in recent fluctuations.
The stablecoin lifeline
The CBI has turned to Tether’s USDT as a key tool in its reserve-building strategy. The central bank acquired at least $507 million in USDT stablecoins, primarily during 2025, to help prop up the rial’s value.
Tether froze approximately $344 million in USDT linked to CBI-associated wallets in April 2026. The freeze came as part of broader compliance actions, effectively cutting off a significant chunk of the central bank’s crypto-denominated reserves in one move.
