Geopolitical Pressure Cooker: Iranians & IRGC Turn to Bitcoin and USDT as Currency & Tensions Escalate
Sanctions? Inflation? Geopolitical isolation? Meet the new financial arsenal.
The Digital Lifeline
As traditional financial channels constrict under the weight of international pressure and domestic economic strain, a pivot is underway. Entities, from everyday citizens to structured organizations, are increasingly bypassing conventional systems. They're not moving gold bars or stacking foreign cash—they're acquiring digital assets.
Why Crypto Wins in a Crisis
The appeal is stark: borderless, permissionless, and operating on a schedule set by algorithms, not central banks. It offers a form of financial sovereignty that fiat currencies, trapped within political frameworks, simply cannot. When a national currency's value is a geopolitical bargaining chip, a decentralized ledger starts looking very attractive—no matter what traditional finance suits might mutter about 'speculative volatility.'
The New Frontier of Financial Strategy
This isn't just about hiding wealth; it's about maintaining operational liquidity and preserving value in a landscape where traditional tools are either unavailable or untrustworthy. The move signals a broader recognition: in modern tension, financial resilience is increasingly digital. And sometimes, the best hedge against a crumbling system is to build your own bank—digitally, in your pocket.
After all, in the high-stakes game of global finance, sometimes the ultimate middle finger to the system is opting out of it entirely. Wall Street's old guard might call it reckless; on the ground, it's just called pragmatism.
IRGC’s crypto activity surges during major domestic events
Although Chainalysis did not break down the specific crypto-related transactions associated with the IRGC, it observed that addresses linked to the IRGC have steadily increased over time during major domestic and geopolitical events. The addresses include IRGC operatives working in Iran and facilitators in several countries, as well as networks that MOVE funds and commodities to help Iran circumvent government or external sanctions.
Chainalysis observed that the IRGC’s on-chain activity spiked significantly during the January 2024 Kerman bombing at a memorial ceremony for Qasem Soleimani, a former Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). The attack killed nearly 100 people who attended the memorial.
The 12-day war in June 2025 also saw a smaller but notable rise in the IRGC’s on-chain activity, as Bank Sepah, which the IRGC heavily uses, was hacked. The cyberattacks further targeted Nobitex, Iran’s leading crypto exchange, and state TV.
Meanwhile, the number of IRGC-linked addresses is expected to increase as more affiliated wallets are publicly disclosed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF). The larger parts of the IRGC’s laundering network are also being exposed as on-chain connections are uncovered within Iran’s web of regional militia proxies across the Middle East.
TRM Labs also reported on January 9 that two UK-incorporated exchanges, Zedxion and Zedcex, quietly processed over $1 billion for the IRGC. Babak Zanjani, a longtime Iranian sanctions-evasion financier, is suspected to be at the center of this operation. His direct connection to Zedcex shows that this is a continuation of a well-established state-aligned financial network.
According to the TRM Labs report, approximately $23.7 million flowed through IRGC-associated Zedcex addresses in 2023. The IRGC-linked flows ROSE to nearly $620 million in 2024, but dropped to roughly $410 million in 2025.
Hedging demand rises as inflation skyrockets
According to Chainalysis, demand for hedging against a plummeting rial is on the rise amid inflation rates of 40% to 50%. For many Iranians, crypto represents a way out of a failing system controlled by a desperate regime.
The surge in BTC withdrawals from exchanges to personal wallets is the most telling scenario, according to Chainalysis. The blockchain intelligence firm observed substantial increases in both the number of transfers to personal wallets and the average daily transaction amount in U.S. dollars.
Chainalysis also noted that Bitcoin’s role during periods of crisis extends beyond capital preservation. BTC stashes become especially valuable when individuals need to operate under the government’s radar or flee.
The study also found that this pattern of increased BTC withdrawals during periods of heightened instability is a global trend observed under similar scenarios. Media reports suggest that people, including Iranians, tend to buy BTC at a markedly higher rate during periods of unrest that negatively affect local currencies.
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