International Sanctions and Crypto Restrictions in Syria and Cuba in 2025

When the U.S. lifted comprehensive sanctions on Syria in July 2025, it didn’t just change trade rules-it flipped the switch on crypto access in a country that had been cut off from the global financial system for over two decades. Meanwhile, Cuba faced the opposite: tighter restrictions, more enforcement, and a renewed crackdown on any loophole that might let dollars slip through. The contrast couldn’t be starker. One nation got a lifeline. The other got a tighter noose. And in both cases, cryptocurrency became the invisible battlefield.

Syria’s Sanctions Lifted-But Crypto Still Lives in a Gray Zone

On July 1, 2025, everything changed for Syria. Executive Order 14312 wiped away six decades of U.S. sanctions, including the 2004 order that had blocked nearly all financial transactions with the country. The Central Bank of Syria was removed from the SDN List. U.S. banks could now open accounts for Syrian institutions. Exporting financial services became legal again. For the first time since 2004, Syrians could receive wire transfers from American banks without triggering a compliance alarm.

But here’s the catch: crypto still has no official rules in Syria. There’s no law saying you can trade Bitcoin. There’s no law saying you can’t. It’s a legal vacuum. That’s not freedom-it’s risk. Banks and payment processors outside Syria still don’t know how to handle transactions involving Syrian wallets. Even if the U.S. says it’s okay, a Swiss bank or a German payment gateway might freeze your transfer because they’re afraid of violating targeted sanctions.

The Assad family and key regime figures are still on the SDN List. So are people tied to the captagon drug trade. If you’re sending crypto to a Syrian wallet that’s even remotely linked to one of those names, you’re in trouble. That’s why exchanges like Binance started allowing Syrian users to trade-but only after adding extra KYC checks. Users report faster deposits and withdrawals now, but some still get locked out for weeks while compliance teams dig through transaction histories.

And here’s what most people don’t realize: Syria doesn’t have a crypto regulator. No licensing. No reporting. No AML system built for digital assets. So businesses trying to operate there have to rely on Syria’s outdated 2011 Anti-Money Laundering law-which was written before Bitcoin existed. That means every cross-border payment, whether in USD or USDT, gets treated like a potential crime scene.

Cuba: Sanctions Got Stronger, Not Weaker

While Syria opened up, Cuba shut down further. On June 15, 2025, President Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 (NSPM-5), reversing Biden’s 2023 easing measures. Travel bans returned. Remittance limits dropped. And crucially, U.S. companies were told: no more indirect deals.

That’s why Key Holding, LLC paid $608,825 in July 2025. They didn’t send money to Cuba. They didn’t ship goods directly. Their Colombian subsidiary managed 36 freight shipments from Colombia to Cuba. OFAC didn’t care. Under the Cuba Assets Control Regime, U.S. companies are responsible for everything their overseas subsidiaries do-even if those subsidiaries are legally incorporated in another country.

For crypto users, this means even the smallest digital transaction can trigger a red flag. If a Cuban uses a U.S.-based exchange like Coinbase to buy Bitcoin and then sends it to a wallet in Havana, that’s a violation. If a Cuban freelancer gets paid in USDC via PayPal, that’s a violation. If a third-country business uses a U.S. bank to process a payment to a Cuban vendor-even if the bank doesn’t know the final destination-it’s still a violation.

The U.S. doesn’t need to catch you. They just need to prove you could’ve known. And that’s the point. The goal isn’t just to stop transactions-it’s to make them so risky that no one tries.

How Crypto Is Being Used-And Blocked-in Both Countries

In Syria, crypto is becoming a workaround for inflation and blocked banking. People use Bitcoin and USDT to pay for imported medicine, send money to family abroad, and buy goods from Turkish or Jordanian sellers. Some small businesses even accept crypto directly. But because Syria has no legal framework, these transactions happen in the dark. There’s no consumer protection. No recourse if a wallet gets hacked. No way to prove ownership if the government seizes assets.

In Cuba, crypto use is more underground. People use peer-to-peer platforms like Paxful and LocalBitcoins to trade USD for Bitcoin, then convert it to cash through local brokers. Some use crypto to pay for software subscriptions, online courses, or cloud services that traditional banks block. But the U.S. has cracked down hard on these channels. In 2025, OFAC targeted several Telegram groups that facilitated Cuban crypto trades, freezing the accounts of U.S.-based moderators.

What’s surprising is how financial tech companies are adapting. Lightspark, a U.S.-based fintech firm, built a system called Grid Switch that lets institutions send payments to Syria without touching crypto at all. It uses the Lightning Network as a settlement layer behind the scenes, but the end user only sees a bank transfer in Syrian pounds. That’s the future: crypto as invisible infrastructure, not the product itself.

In Cuba, no such workaround exists. Even if you try to use decentralized protocols like Uniswap, the U.S. can still track the IP addresses of users connecting from Cuban networks. And if your wallet ever interacted with a sanctioned address-even once-it’s flagged for life.

Who’s Really at Risk?

It’s not the average person in Syria trying to buy food. It’s the companies trying to do business there.

A U.S.-based SaaS provider that sells software to a Syrian startup? Risky. Even if the Syrian company isn’t on any sanctions list, the bank processing the payment might refuse it because Syria’s name is on the list. A Turkish logistics firm shipping goods to Syria? They need to screen every customer, every address, every shipping route. One mistake, and they’re on the SDN List too.

In Cuba, the risk is even higher. A Canadian company that uses a U.S. cloud server to host its website? If a Cuban user visits that site and downloads a free trial, the company could be liable. A German NGO that pays Cuban researchers via crypto? That’s a violation. OFAC doesn’t care if your intent was humanitarian. They care if the money touched a Cuban wallet.

This isn’t about morality. It’s about control. The U.S. isn’t trying to stop crypto. It’s trying to stop anyone from using crypto to bypass sanctions. And in that game, Syria is the exception. Cuba is the warning.

What This Means for the Future of Crypto and Sanctions

The Syria-Cuba contrast is a blueprint for how sanctions will evolve in the next decade. The U.S. isn’t abandoning sanctions-it’s making them smarter. Targeted. Surgical. And increasingly, digital.

In Syria, the goal was to reward political change. The U.S. removed sanctions because the Assad regime cracked down on captagon and dismantled HTS. Crypto access was a side effect. It wasn’t the goal-it was the reward.

In Cuba, the goal is punishment. No matter how many people suffer, the U.S. won’t budge. Crypto is seen as a threat to that strategy. So they’re building walls around it.

This is the new reality: crypto doesn’t make sanctions obsolete. It makes them more precise. The U.S. can now track transactions across wallets, exchanges, and blockchain bridges. They can freeze assets without shutting down entire banking systems. They can punish individuals without harming civilians.

And as more countries adopt digital currencies-China’s digital yuan, Russia’s ruble token, even the EU’s digital euro-the lines will blur even more. The next wave of sanctions won’t be about banks. They’ll be about wallets. About addresses. About signatures.

What You Need to Know Right Now

If you’re a business, investor, or crypto user dealing with Syria or Cuba in 2025:

• Syria: Transactions are legal, but compliance is messy. Always screen addresses against the SDN List. Use only reputable exchanges with KYC. Avoid any wallet linked to the Assad family, captagon traders, or military-linked entities.
• Cuba: Avoid all crypto transactions. Even indirect ones. Don’t use U.S.-based platforms to send funds to Cuban wallets. Don’t accept payments from Cuban users. Don’t host websites that Cubans can access if you’re tied to a U.S. company.
• Both: Sanctions lists change daily. OFAC updates the SDN List every 48 hours. Subscribe to their alerts. Don’t rely on cached lists.
• Always assume: If you’re using crypto to bypass sanctions, you’re not hiding-you’re broadcasting.

There’s no magic solution. No blockchain trick that makes sanctions disappear. The rules are clear. The penalties are real. And the U.S. is watching.