[Iranian Rial Hits Historic Low as U.S. Sanctions Target Digital Assets for the First Time] Odaily Planet Daily News: The Iranian Rial fell to a historic low this week, with the open market exchange rate dropping to approximately 2.02 million Rials per 1 U.S. dollar on August 24, compared to about 1.53 million Rials in the first quarter. During the same period, the U.S. government launched the 'Economic Pariah Initiative,' adding over 60 entities to the Treasury Department's blacklist and, for the first time, targeting digital assets as a sanctionable domain. State-owned farms linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) control about 65% of Iran's Bitcoin mining capacity. Since 2019, Iranian miners have accounted for approximately 3% to 7% of global Bitcoin hash rate, with the mined Bitcoin valued at around $1.35 billion to $3.15 billion at different stages. Iran legalized Bitcoin mining in 2019, allowing licensed operators to use industrial electricity at about $0.004 per kilowatt-hour and sell the mined tokens to the Central Bank of Iran. Chainalysis estimates that IRGC-linked wallets received over $3 billion by Q4 2025; Elliptic reports that the Central Bank of Iran holds at least $507 million in USDT. In June, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex. Nobitex previously handled more than half of Iran's digital asset inflows; in April, the U.S. Treasury seized nearly $500 million in crypto assets linked to Iran. (Bitcoin.com News)