The Iranian rial is plummeting in 2026, with inflation eroding savings daily, causing the middle class to lose trust in banks. Caught between sanctions and the threat of account freezes, many families are turning to crypto, especially Bitcoin and stablecoins, to preserve value.
This scenario resembles Lebanon from late 2019: banks freezing withdrawals, USD being forced to be exchanged for local currency and losing over 90% of its value, with people relying on remittances and peer-to-peer transactions on Telegram. At that time, Bitcoin helped store assets, transfer money quickly without intermediaries; but it required self-custody of private keys, backing up seed phrases, and avoiding custodial services. Iran is following a similar path, with billions of dollars flowing into crypto and a rising trend of self-custody.
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