New attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran have drawn attention to a financial network that Tehran has built in parallel to its battered banking system: bitcoin mining and a rapidly growing stablecoin economy.
Iran legalized crypto mining in 2019, allowing licensed operators to use subsidized electricity in exchange for selling mined BTC to the central bank. Bitcoin has served as a tool to pay for imports and settle trade outside the dollar system, even if indirectly.
Estimates in recent years have put Iran’s share of global bitcoin mining power at between 2% and 5%, although much of the activity takes place out of public view.
Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis found that Iran’s crypto ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in 2025, growing faster than the previous year. That figure is as large as the GDP of some smaller countries such as the Maldives or Liechtenstein.
According to Chainalysis, activity often spiked around military clashes and internal unrest, including last year’s 12-day conflict with Israel.
Since then, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the main branch of the country’s military, has deepened its role in space. Chainalysis estimates that IRGC-linked addresses accounted for more than 50% of total Iranian cryptocurrency inflows in the fourth quarter of 2025, with more than $3 billion in value received last year.
Those figures reflect only wallets publicly linked to sanctions lists, suggesting the real footprint may be larger.
Adoption mechanics
Stablecoins also play a key role.
A separate analysis by Elliptic found that Iran’s central bank accumulated at least $507 million in USDT in 2025, which will likely stabilize the rial and financial trade. That effort has largely failed, with data showing the rial has lost more than 96% of its value against the dollar.
At the same time, ordinary Iranians have turned to bitcoin. During recent protests and an internet blackout, withdrawals from local exchanges to personal wallets increased sharply.
Read more: Iranian rial collapse reflects Lebanon crisis, prompting citizens to opt for bitcoin
If the conflict affects electrical networks, mining production could fall in the short term. The Iranian state is believed to be mining BTC at around $1,300 per coin, which it then sells at current market prices. It is unclear whether the state has maintained reserves of bitcoin, as there is no treasury panel or official disclosure of holdings.
In practice, mining turns cheap domestic energy into an asset that can cross borders. A licensed miner mint new bitcoins and then send them to Iran’s central bank. The bank can then transfer it to an overseas counterparty to pay for machinery, fuel or consumer goods without diverting funds through US-controlled banks.
While transactions are settled on a public blockchain, counterparties can remain opaque.
The same pattern appears in stablecoins. USDT, which is pegged to the dollar, has become a standard settlement tool in sanctioned economies because it offers price stability and faster transfers than bitcoin.
However, it is not always easy to hide these types of transactions. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance recently became embroiled in accusations that it fired investigators who raised concerns about the movement of funds through the exchange to sanctioned entities linked to Iran. This led nine US Senate Democrats to call on the Treasury and the Department of Justice to investigate Binance’s illicit financial controls.
Geopolitical risks
Chainalysis data shows that Iranian crypto activity correlates with political tension points, including missile exchanges and domestic protests. During periods of unrest, currency outflows increase as users withdraw funds to private wallets.
For the IRGC, cryptocurrencies offer another channel to move value through its network of affiliates and commercial fronts. Chainalysis reported that inflows to IRGC-linked addresses amounted to $2 billion in 2024 and surpassed $3 billion in 2025.
The renewed military campaign, in which the IRGC has retaliated against US bases in several Middle Eastern countries, adds a new risk to this system. Large mining operations require constant energy. Iran has imposed seasonal bans in the past to ease strain on the network.
A sustained conflict that damages infrastructure could reduce the hash rate or mining capacity tied to the country, although the global bitcoin network would likely adjust over time as miners elsewhere take over.
