Recent reports on Iran's currency crisis indeed reflect a harsh reality——in countries where fiat currency faces systemic devaluation, the demand for crypto assets can be extremely high.

Let's look at a set of data. At the beginning of 2024, 1 USD was exchanged for 450,000 Iranian rials, with only a 20% gap between official and black market rates. Fast forward to early 2026, the free market quote has reached 1,450,000 rials per USD, with the rial devaluing by up to 90% in just over a year. This is not a numbers game; it is a real collapse in purchasing power in daily life——the money that could buy ten pounds of flour last year now can't even buy one pound.

The severity of the problem far exceeds surface data. The official inflation rate has soared to 42.5%, with food prices skyrocketing by 72%. The retail price of one kilogram of beef ranges between 15-18 USD, while the average monthly income of a regular worker is about 70 USD. Buying meat once consumes a quarter of the monthly salary. For retirees, it is even more despairing——they could rely on pensions for comfortable retirement in the past, but now they can't even cover ten days of basic living expenses; civil servants' half-year wages have also severely shrunk.

Such scenarios are not isolated in emerging markets. When fiat currency spirals into devaluation, the cash held by ordinary people depreciates visibly and rapidly, sharply increasing the demand for hedging assets. This is precisely why in some countries and regions experiencing high inflation, the adoption rate of Bitcoin and other crypto assets is often much higher than in developed countries. The crisis of fiat currency objectively boosts the craving for alternative assets.

For crypto investors, this is also a risk warning worth reflecting on. Macroeconomic turmoil can indeed create short-term opportunities, but in the long run, investment decisions should not rely solely on such external shocks. True wisdom lies in understanding systemic risks and maintaining clear judgment across different market cycles.