Crypto Adoption in Iran Under Sanctions: How Citizens Bypass Financial Isolation

How Iranians Are Using Crypto to Survive Sanctions

When banks won’t let you send money abroad, when your salary loses half its value in a month, and when foreign payments for essential goods are blocked - you find another way. For millions of Iranians, that way is cryptocurrency. It’s not a hobby. It’s not an investment gamble. It’s survival.

In 2025, Iran saw $3.7 billion in crypto flows between January and July - down 11% from 2024, but still massive. That drop isn’t because people stopped using crypto. It’s because the U.S. and its allies got smarter at shutting it down. Every time a wallet gets frozen, Iranians switch networks. Every time a stablecoin gets blocked, they move to another. They’re not chasing gains. They’re chasing freedom.

The Government’s Double Game

The Iranian government doesn’t hate crypto. It uses it. In 2019, it legalized mining - but only if you sell your coins to the Central Bank of Iran at a fixed price. Miners pay sky-high electricity rates, making most operations unprofitable. So they go underground. Meanwhile, the government runs its own mining farms, feeding Bitcoin and Ethereum into state coffers.

Domestic exchanges like Nobitex are legal, monitored, and required to hand over user data through government APIs. You can buy crypto there - but only if the state knows exactly who you are and what you’re doing. It’s a controlled outlet: enough to keep people from revolting, but not enough to let them escape entirely.

On December 27, 2024, Iran shut down all crypto-to-rial conversions online. A month later, it reopened them - but only for exchanges connected to state-approved systems. This wasn’t a policy shift. It was a surveillance upgrade.

How Iranians Circumvent the Blockade

Most Iranians don’t trust Nobitex to hold their life savings. They use VPNs - thousands of them - to access Binance, Kraken, and other foreign platforms. They don’t care about the legal risks. They care about access.

They convert Iranian rials into USDT or TRX on local exchanges. Then, they move the funds through a chain of 5-10 intermediary wallets. Each hop breaks the trail. Then, they off-ramp through exchanges in Turkey, the UAE, or Hong Kong - places with weak KYC rules. Chainalysis calls this the “Iranian layering pattern.” It’s the same method used by drug cartels and sanctioned regimes. Only here, it’s ordinary people trying to buy medicine, send money to family, or save their pensions.

After Tether froze $200 million in Iranian-linked USDT addresses in July 2025, users didn’t panic. They switched to DAI on the Polygon network. Why? Faster transactions. Lower fees. Less exposure to centralized freezes. Within days, DAI usage in Iran jumped 300%. This isn’t luck. It’s education. Iranians now understand blockchain architecture better than most Western investors.

Why Bitcoin Is Iran’s Secret Weapon

Bitcoin doesn’t need a bank. It doesn’t need a government. It doesn’t need an internet connection if you have a satellite phone and a seed phrase. That’s why, amid blackouts and internet shutdowns, Iranians still hold Bitcoin in cold wallets - paper, metal, even engraved on steel plates.

Unlike bank accounts, Bitcoin can’t be seized by court order. Unlike gold, it can be sent instantly across borders. Unlike real estate, you can carry it in your pocket. When the economy collapses, when protests break out, when you need to flee - Bitcoin is the only asset that doesn’t require permission to move.

TRM Labs found that Iranian users hold more Bitcoin per capita than any other sanctioned nation. It’s not speculation. It’s insurance. One Tehran-based engineer told a journalist: “I don’t care if Bitcoin goes to $100,000. I care that I can leave tomorrow and still have money.”

The New Tax Trap

In August 2025, Iran passed the Law on Taxation of Speculation and Profiteering. For the first time, crypto profits are taxed - at the same rate as gold and forex trading. The government isn’t trying to kill crypto. It’s trying to control it.

This law is a signal: crypto is now part of the official economy. But it’s also a trap. If you report your gains, you give the state a list of your wallets. If you don’t report, you risk fines or worse. Many Iranians are choosing silence. They trade peer-to-peer. They use cash-based OTC desks. They avoid leaving digital trails.

Experts say this tax law is less about revenue and more about intelligence. Every transaction you declare is a data point. Every wallet you link to your ID is a vulnerability. The state isn’t taxing crypto to fund the budget. It’s using it to map dissent.

Who’s Really Behind the Scenes?

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) doesn’t just tolerate crypto - it runs it. Treasury Department reports show that over 40% of Iranian crypto flows connect to IRGC-linked addresses. These aren’t random wallets. They’re part of a global network that buys drones from China, pays mercenaries in Syria, and imports missile parts through Dubai.

But here’s the twist: the same wallets that fund the IRGC also fund ordinary families. A miner in Mashhad sells his Bitcoin to a local trader. That trader sends the money to a hospital supplier in Tehran. The supplier pays for oxygen tanks. The oxygen tanks save lives. The system is broken, but it works.

OFAC designated 13 crypto addresses in 2024 - the second-highest number in seven years. Each designation triggers a chain reaction. Exchanges scramble. Users migrate. Networks shift. And the cycle repeats.

The Future: A Cat-and-Mouse Game

Sanctions enforcement is no longer about blocking banks. It’s about freezing wallets. Tracking IP addresses. Mapping transaction graphs. In 2025, the U.S. froze addresses linked to oil tankers, front companies, and crypto exchanges - all in one sweep.

Iran’s response? Speed. Agility. Decentralization. When one network gets hit, they move to another. When one stablecoin is flagged, they switch to a different one. They use cross-chain bridges, private swaps, and decentralized protocols that don’t require sign-ups.

Iranian crypto users aren’t hackers. They’re not criminals. They’re parents, doctors, teachers, and students. They’re using the most advanced financial tool on Earth - not to get rich, but to stay alive.

The world thinks sanctions will break Iran. But for millions, crypto is the reason they haven’t broken yet.

What Happens If Sanctions Get Tighter?

If the U.S. cuts off Iran’s access to all foreign exchanges, Iranians will turn to peer-to-peer networks. They’ll use Telegram bots to match buyers and sellers. They’ll trade Bitcoin for cash in parking lots. They’ll use QR codes to transfer value offline.

If the government shuts down all VPNs, people will use mesh networks and satellite internet. If mining becomes impossible, they’ll trade their electricity vouchers for crypto on black markets.

There’s no endgame for sanctions if the population has access to a borderless, censorship-resistant asset. Crypto doesn’t need a country. It doesn’t need a government. It just needs a phone and a will to survive.