Recent unrest in Iran and Venezuela in early 2026 has highlighted how US dollar–backed stablecoins such as Tether serve both as a financial hedge for citizens and as a channel for sanctioned actors to move value. Protesters, arrested people, internet shutdowns and soaring inflation have driven wider stablecoin use amid sanctions and economic collapse, and rights groups have reported rising deaths linked to the unrest (reported).
In Iran the rial’s decline and nationwide protests have pushed many citizens to seek crypto protection while the government cut domestic internet access and authorities made arrests, with video coverage documenting events (video). USDT on Tron is reportedly the most used asset in Iran, as described in a TRM Labs blog (report).
The government limited annual stablecoin holdings to $10,000 and set a per-person purchase cap of $5,000 (policy). Broader adoption slowed in 2025 after a major exchange hack and numerous wallet blacklistings, according to the same reporting (report).
A separate TRM Labs investigation alleges the IRGC moved more than $1 billion in stablecoins through two UK-registered firms, Zedcex and Zedxion, which it says acted as joint infrastructure for sanctions evasion (study). “In practice, they operate as a single enterprise embedded within a broader Iranian sanctions evasion ecosystem, moving value across borders, currencies, and jurisdictions on behalf of one of the world’s most heavily sanctioned military organizations,” the report stated, adding that Babak Zanjani is a key figure in the network (report).
In Venezuela citizens have likewise adopted USDT to avoid bolivar inflation and distrust of banks, and users report paying for daily services with stablecoins; a Venezuelan entrepreneur said, “Stablecoin adoption has gone so far into Venezuela that even without having regulated venues where you can buy and sell them, people still choose to go for stablecoins as opposed to using the local banks.” (source).
State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela is estimated to accept about 80% of its oil revenue in Tether, using the stablecoin to settle many transactions (estimate). Data compiled by AMLBot shows Tether blacklisted roughly $3.3 billion between 2023 and late 2025, including about $1.75 billion in Tron-based USDT, and recent wallet freezes of $182 million were flagged on social channels (data, post).
