Iran uses $7.8 billion crypto shadow economy to bypass sanctions

Fresh U.S. and Israeli strikes have drawn attention to a financial network Tehran has built alongside its battered banking system: bitcoin mining and a fast-growing stablecoin economy. Iran legalized crypto mining in 2019, allowing licensed operators to use subsidized electricity in return for selling mined bitcoin to the central bank, and bitcoin has been used to pay for imports and settle trade outside the dollar system.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis found Iran’s crypto ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in 2025, a size comparable to the GDP of small countries such as the Maldives or Liechtenstein. Estimates place Iran’s share of global bitcoin mining between 2% and 5%, and on-chain activity often spiked around military clashes and domestic unrest, including last year’s 12-day conflict with Israel.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has deepened its role in the space.

Iran

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