At the same time as the Central Bank of Iran’s regime imposed widespread restrictions on the cryptocurrency market in response to the reactivation of the snapback mechanism (triggering of UN sanctions), Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned about the possibility of Tether freezing Iranians’ assets. This report may have been published to exert psychological pressure on investors.
On Sunday, September 28, Tasnim wrote that Tether might “with intensified restrictions or stricter compliance with sanctioning regimes, put part of domestic investors’ capital at risk of being frozen.”
The agency added that Tether’s data shows that so far “thousands of accounts” belonging to Iranian users have been blocked.
It does not appear that Tasnim’s report contained new information, as the issue of blocking cryptocurrency accounts suspected of being linked to Iran has been raised for years.
On September 27, just hours before the official reinstatement of UN sanctions, the Central Bank of Iran’s regime announced a new directive restricting the purchase and holding of stablecoins such as Tether.
Asghar Abolhasani, the deputy governor of the Central Bank, stated that the maximum annual purchase of stablecoins for each individual or legal entity is $5,000, and users will only be allowed to hold up to $10,000 worth of stablecoins in their balance.
He warned those holding more than $10,000 worth of stablecoins that they must comply with the Central Bank’s ceiling within the next month.
This measure is seen as an attempt to mitigate the effects of the return of international sanctions on Iran’s economy.
This comes while regime officials in recent weeks have tried to downplay the impact of the activation of the snapback mechanism on developments in Iran.
On July 20, the daily bulletin of the IRGC’s political bureau, predicting the activation of the snapback mechanism, called for “psychological preparation of society” to deal with the economic shock resulting from the return of sanctions.
Part of that bulletin stated: “Oversight and transparency of digital exchanges and cryptocurrencies are essential. In the absence of regulations, this sector has become a gateway for capital flight and increased currency tensions.”
In recent years, Iran’s regime security and military institutions have widely entered the cryptocurrency market.
On June 18, during the hack of the “Nobitex” exchange, it was revealed that at least $90 million belonging to these institutions had been wiped out.
According to reports, the attackers were able to distinguish assets belonging to the regime’s affiliated networks from those of ordinary customers.
