Chainalysis: Iran is expected to channel over $3 billion through IRGC networks in 2025, amid a 162% increase in global illicit money flows to $154 billion.
Cryptocurrencies are increasingly becoming a strategic tool for sanctioned countries to circumvent international financial barriers – and Iran is leading this worrying trend.
According to the 2026 Crypto Asset Crimes Report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, addresses linked to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accounted for more than half of the total value of crypto assets received by Iranian entities, with over $3 billion flowing to support regional militia networks, facilitate oil sales, and purchase dual-use equipment. The total size of Iran's crypto asset market in 2025 is estimated at $7.48 billion.
Chainalysis notes that Iran is integrating crypto assets into its strategic priorities and proxy funding channels even as it faces internal and external pressure at levels not seen since the early years of the Islamic Republic.
These Capital flows have been identified as funding militia networks including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas, and Houthi forces, and supporting the smuggling of goods, illegal oil, and weapons on a scale that Chainalysis describes as “unprecedented on the blockchain.”
The market reaction to the recent coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran also reflected the extent of this flow of funds: approximately $10.3 million worth of cryptocurrency was withdrawn from exchanges in Iran, with hourly withdrawals nearing $2 million at their peak.
From Russia to Southeast Asia, illicit money flows are reshaping the blockchain risk map.
The global picture is equally worrying. Chainalysis estimates that illicit addresses received at least $154 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets in 2025, a 162% increase from the previous year, with sanctioned countries accounting for approximately $104 billion of that amount.
Russia has emerged as another hotspot, with the ruble- Peg A7A5 stablecoin processing $93.3 billion in transactions in less than a year. Two Russian-based exchanges, Grinex and Meer, which are under sanctions, recorded $305 million and $4.76 billion in transactions respectively during the same period.
In Venezuela, the flow of cryptocurrency is projected to reach $44.6 billion by 2025 as people continue to turn to crypto as a hedge against hyperinflation and economic instability. OTC brokers – operating both physical stores and online platforms – act as a point of exchange between fiat currency and cryptocurrency, including for bolivars held in sanctioned banks.
In Southeast Asia, the sanctioned Huione Group processed over $98 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between August 2021 and January 2025, with the majority linked to money laundering and fraud.
North Korea continues to pose a Dai threat, with hacking groups linked to the Pyongyang regime stealing more than $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets in 2025 – the largest cryptocurrency theft ever recorded by the country.
Chainalysis concludes that the level of cryptocurrency use by countries like Iran suggests that sanctioned governments are not only adapting to the cryptocurrency space, but are also learning to conceal their activities on the blockchain with increasing sophistication.
