The Central Bank of Iran has reportedly purchased over $500 million in dollar-pegged digital assets over the past year to address the ongoing currency crisis and circumvent US sanctions. According to an Elliptic report cited by Bloomberg, the bank made significant USDT purchases in April and May 2025, channeling the funds through an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange. This move aims to bolster Iran's foreign exchange reserves, which have been dwindling due to restrictions on oil exports and exclusion from the SWIFT system. The use of stablecoins is seen as a strategy to create a "sanctions-resistant" banking mechanism, allowing Iran to maintain a financial layer that holds dollar value without US regulation. This development comes as Iran's cryptocurrency ecosystem is expected to expand significantly, with projections estimating its growth to $7.78 billion by 2025, according to Chainalysis.