Iran’s central bank appears to have been systematically accumulating vast quantities of the Tether cryptocurrency, according to a new report by Elliptic, a crypto analytics firm. The report claims that the bank has moved at least £377 million ($507 million) worth of Tether through accounts that seem to be under its control.
This suggests a “sophisticated strategy to bypass the global banking system,” potentially to trade or prop up the Iranian rial, the country’s currency. The revelation raises questions about the support for Tether from Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, who has been a vocal advocate of the cryptocurrency.
In September, Farage revealed he planned to raise the issue of Tether with the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey. Farage has criticised Bailey for imposing restrictions on cryptocurrencies and urged the UK to emulate the US, where former president Donald Trump appointed Tether’s banker, Howard Lutnick, as his commerce secretary.
One of Tether’s major shareholders, tech investor Christopher Harborne, is Reform UK’s biggest donor. However, Harborne’s lawyers have denied that he is responsible for any illicit activities by Tether users.
The Iranian regime’s apparent use of Tether’s stablecoins comes as the country faces widespread protests and a brutal crackdown that has resulted in thousands of confirmed deaths. Tether has stated that it maintains a “zero-tolerance policy toward the criminal use of our financial products” and collaborates with law enforcement globally to identify and freeze assets linked to illegal activity.
However, the report suggests that while Tether has frozen accounts linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, identified by Israel last year, most of the accounts that appear to have been used by the Iranian central bank remain active.
