Iran’s cryptocurrency ecosystem experienced significant growth in 2025, with total activity exceeding $7.78 billion. This expansion occurred at an accelerated pace for most of the year compared to 2024, according to a recent report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The growth unfolded against a backdrop of increasing political, economic, and security challenges facing the country, including international sanctions, high inflation rates, domestic unrest, and escalating regional conflicts.
Geopolitical Events and Cryptocurrency Activity
Chainalysis's latest report indicates that Iran’s cryptocurrency activity has become increasingly correlated with major political and geopolitical events. On-chain transaction volumes saw notable spikes during periods of heightened instability. The report identified several key episodes that influenced this trend.
These events include the Kerman bombings in January 2024, which resulted in nearly 100 fatalities at a memorial for former IRGC-Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Another significant surge occurred during Iran’s missile strikes against Israel in October 2024, following the assassinations of Hamas leader Isma’il Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in Beirut. A smaller, yet still discernible, increase in activity was observed during the 12-day conflict in June 2025, a period when Iran’s long-standing shadow war with Israel intensified sharply.
The conflict in June 2025 coincided with joint US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure. This period also saw cyberattacks directed at Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and Bank Sepah, the nation's oldest bank and an institution frequently utilized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Additionally, Iranian state television broadcasts were subjected to hacking during this time.
Chainalysis observed that overall crypto activity in Iran not only grew year over year but did so at a faster rate than in the preceding year. This pattern highlights cryptocurrency's dual role as a financial alternative and a response to severe economic stress. Iran has been grappling with inflation estimated between 40% and 50%, and its national currency, the rial, has depreciated by approximately 90% since 2018.
The IRGC's Growing Influence in the Crypto Economy
A significant finding from the report is the increasing dominance of the IRGC within Iran’s cryptocurrency economy. In the fourth quarter of 2025, addresses associated with IRGC-linked facilitation networks accounted for over 50% of the total value received across the Iranian crypto ecosystem. The volume of funds received by these IRGC-associated addresses amounted to more than $2 billion in 2024 and subsequently rose to over $3 billion in 2025.
Chainalysis acknowledged that these figures represent a conservative estimate. This is based solely on wallets that have been publicly identified through sanctions designations by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing. The firm suggests that the actual scale of IRGC involvement is likely larger, considering the potential use of shell companies, undisclosed facilitators, and unidentified wallets connected to IRGC operations. These operations encompass illicit oil sales, sanctions evasion, money laundering, and support for regional proxy groups.
The report also documented a shift in behavior among ordinary Iranians during recent mass protests, particularly between late December 2025 and early January 2026, when an internet blackout was implemented. During this period, Chainalysis identified substantial increases in average daily transaction values and transfers to personal wallets. Furthermore, there was a pronounced surge in withdrawals from Iranian exchanges to personal Bitcoin wallets.
According to the report, this trend suggests that many Iranians turned to Bitcoin as a method for self-custody and capital preservation amidst currency collapse and political uncertainty.