Iran’s cryptocurrency activity climbed past $7.78 billion in 2025, growing at a faster pace than in 2024, according to a new report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
The expansion unfolded amid mounting political, economic, and security challenges, including strict international sanctions, soaring inflation, widespread protests, and escalating regional tensions.
Conflict and Instability Fuel Crypto Surges
Chainalysis found that crypto usage in Iran increasingly spikes around major political and geopolitical shocks. Transaction volumes jumped following several high-profile events, including the January 2024 Kerman bombings, Iran’s missile attacks on Israel in October 2024 after the killings of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, and a noticeable surge during the 12-day escalation with Israel in June 2025.
That June conflict coincided with US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities, cyberattacks on Nobitex Iran’s largest crypto exchange and Bank Sepah, as well as hacks targeting Iranian state television broadcasts.
Overall, Chainalysis noted that Iran’s crypto economy not only expanded year over year but did so at an accelerated rate, reflecting crypto’s growing role as a financial alternative amid severe economic strain. Inflation has hovered between 40% and 50%, while the rial has lost roughly 90% of its value since 2018.
IRGC’s Expanding Role
One of the report’s key findings was the increasing influence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) within Iran’s crypto ecosystem. Wallets linked to IRGC-affiliated networks accounted for more than half of the total value received across Iran’s crypto market in Q4 2025. Funds flowing to these addresses exceeded $2 billion in 2024 and rose above $3 billion in 2025.
Chainalysis cautioned that these figures likely underestimate the true scale, as they are based only on wallets publicly identified through US and Israeli sanctions. The firm noted that the IRGC likely operates through additional shell companies, undisclosed intermediaries, and unidentified wallets tied to sanctions evasion, illicit oil sales, money laundering, and support for regional proxy groups.
The report also highlighted shifts in behavior among ordinary Iranians during recent mass protests, particularly from late December 2025 to early January 2026, when authorities imposed an internet blackout. During this period, on-chain data showed higher average transaction sizes, increased transfers to self custody wallets, and a sharp rise in withdrawals from local exchanges to personal Bitcoin wallets signaling a turn to crypto as a tool for capital protection amid political and economic uncertainty.
