Venezuela and Iran Highlight Stablecoins' Dual Role: Citizen Tool and Sanctions Workaround

Venezuela and Iran underscored the dual role of U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins on Jan. 12, with Tether (USDT) serving both as a household payment tool and a channel for sanctioned entities to move funds, BlockBeats reports. In Iran, years of rial weakness and sanctions have driven citizens toward crypto; the government set an annual cap on personal stablecoin holdings at $10,000 and purchases at $5,000 in September last year, while TRM Labs reported the IRGC allegedly moved over $1 billion in stablecoins since 2023 through two UK front companies. In Venezuela, USDT is widely used for daily payments amid bolívar depreciation, and state oil firm PDVSA has used USDT for oil settlement since 2020, with an estimated 80% of oil revenue completed via Tether to navigate sanctions-related settlement limits, according to BlockBeats.