When a country begins to accept cryptocurrency payments for weapons orders, crypto assets are no longer a matter of "financial innovation" or "gray market tool," but are formally incorporated into the national survival and external competition system.
In January 2026, Mindex, the export center of the Iranian Ministry of Defense, explicitly stated in an official document that its overseas military contracts could accept cryptocurrency, barter trade, or Iranian rials as payment methods.
Arms trade has always been one of the most sanctioned, regulated, and sensitive cross-border transaction scenarios. Iran's decision to publicly include cryptocurrency as a payment option in this area signifies one thing: crypto assets are being systematically used by Iran as a "financial tool to resist sanctions."
Reality Constraints Driven
Over the past few years, Iran has been under three highly realistic constraints:
- The local currency, the riyal, has been depreciating for a long time, and the foreign exchange system is fragile.
- The international banking system has been essentially cut off.
- Energy exports and military trade continue to face settlement and delivery risks.
Against this backdrop, in 2025, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf publicly stated that without accepting cryptocurrencies, Iran would be unable to achieve its national goal of having the digital economy account for 10% of its GDP, and called for the prompt development of a national roadmap for crypto assets.
This is not technological idealism, but a sober judgment formed under the reality of long-term sanctions— without the introduction of encryption, many economic goals simply cannot be achieved.
The world's fourth largest mining center
In reality, Iran's dependence on crypto assets is far more aggressive than its statements suggest.
On the one hand, Iran has become the world's fourth-largest cryptocurrency mining hub. Thanks to substantial electricity subsidies, even with rampant illegal mining, it has still generated considerable computing power and crypto assets.
On the other hand, crypto assets are also deeply embedded in more sensitive areas. Israel's National Counter-Terrorism Financing Authority has disclosed that addresses linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have received approximately $1.5 billion in USDT.
While some addresses may belong to exchanges or sharing services, the sheer size of these addresses is enough to demonstrate that stablecoins are becoming a crucial liquidity vehicle for Iran to circumvent sanctions.
"Fireflies" in the Dark
In January 2026, Iran implemented a nationwide internet shutdown due to protests and a currency crisis. This was supposed to be a "fatal blow" to cryptocurrency trading, but the outcome was unexpected.
In environments without internet access, various offline or weak network solutions were quickly discussed and deployed:
- Starlink satellite network
- Blockstream satellite network supports broadcasting Bitcoin data globally.
- Bluetooth mesh communication tool Bitchat
- Darkwire, an internet-free Bitcoin transmission solution
- Machankura supports sending and receiving Bitcoin over telecommunications networks
These solutions are not mature and cannot replace the internet on a large scale, but in such an extreme environment, the crypto industry has demonstrated its remarkable resilience. When traditional communication and financial systems fail simultaneously, crypto assets are seen as a "last resort."
The Era of "Strategic Tools"
Iran's experience is a microcosm of how countries survive under extreme sanctions.
It demonstrates the unique value of cryptocurrencies in geopolitics: bypassing the traditional financial system to achieve value transfer and acquire strategic resources.
Russia's oil trade, Venezuela's "shadow Bitcoin reserves," and now Iran's arms deals all point to an undeniable reality: cryptocurrencies are rising from "financial instruments" to "geopolitical tools," becoming a new medium connecting national strategies with the global economy.
*The content of this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Investing involves risk; please invest cautiously.
