The Venezuela and Iran cases highlight the stablecoin's "dual nature," where USDT serves as a tool for everyday transactions but is also used for sanctions evasion.

BlockBeats News, January 12th. Recently, amid the turmoil between Venezuela and Iran, the dual role of stablecoins has once again been thrust into the spotlight. Dollar-denominated stablecoins, especially Tether (USDT), have become an important value storage and payment tool for ordinary people in inflation-ridden, financially restricted countries on one hand. On the other hand, they have also been used by some sanctioned entities for cross-border fund transfers and sanctions evasion.

In Iran, the long-term devaluation of the rial coupled with sanctions and social unrest has made cryptocurrencies an important tool for the public to hedge against inflation and systemic risks. The hacking of Iran's largest exchange in 2025 and multiple blacklistings of Tether addresses dealt a blow to stablecoin adoption. Meanwhile, the Iranian government set an annual limit on stablecoins in September last year, specifying that individuals can hold a maximum of $10,000 and annual purchases should not exceed $5,000.

However, the other side of stablecoins has also attracted regulatory attention. Blockchain analytics company TRM Labs reported that since 2023, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran has been accused of transferring over $1 billion in stablecoin assets through two "UK front companies" to establish cross-border, cross-jurisdictional fund channels.

In Venezuela, the penetration of USDT is similarly significant. Due to the continuous devaluation of the local currency, the bolivar, and the lack of trust in the banking system by the people, stablecoins have been widely used for daily payments, ranging from basic services to small transactions. Reports also indicate that the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA has been heavily using USDT for oil settlements since 2020, with an estimated around 80% of its oil revenue settled via Tether to circumvent settlement restrictions imposed by sanctions.

Analysts point out that the cases of Iran and Venezuela once again demonstrate that stablecoins are simultaneously serving as "people's livelihood infrastructure" and "the source of compliance challenges" in the global financial system, and this contradictory nature may continue to be the focus of regulatory and market dynamics in 2026.