Iran central bank used stablecoin backed by Farage, report says

Iran’s central bank has acquired around $507 million worth of cryptocurrency that has been publicly backed by the head of the UK’s far right Reform UK, according to a report.

The report, published on Wednesday by crypto analytics firm Elliptic, found that several cryptoasset wallets used by Iran’s central bank had accumulated $507 million in Tether’s USDT stablecoin.

Elliptic said the activity was identified following leaked documents detailing the purchase of USDT by the bank in April and May 2025.

The purchases came at a time when Iran was negotiating with the United States over its nuclear programme, amid threats of renewed sanctions and military confrontation.

According to Elliptic, the acquisition of large quantities of USDT, which is pegged to the US dollar, represents “a sophisticated strategy to bypass the global banking system” and may have been used to prop up Iran’s collapsing rial and facilitate international trade.

The collapse of Iran’s currency helped spark the largest and deadliest protests the country has seen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in late December.

Human rights activists say nearly 5,000 people were killed in the unrest, which also led to an unprecedented two-week nationwide internet shutdown.

The report has drawn attention because of the public advocacy of Tether by Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, a party widely criticised by rights groups for racist and Islamophobic rhetoric.

According to The Guardian, Farage said he would raise the issue of Tether with Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, in September.

Speaking to LBC, Farage said: “You know, stable coins, crypto, this world is enormous, and I’ve been urging for years that London should embrace it. We should become a global trading centre for this stuff, under proper regulation.”

The Guardian also reported that Tether’s major shareholder, Christopher Harborne, is a major donor to Reform UK. His lawyers denied that he profits from Iran’s use of USDT.

Reform UK said all donations comply with UK election law and regulations, while Tether said it has a “zero tolerance policy” toward criminal use of its stablecoin.

Tether has previously frozen crypto accounts suspected of being used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.