United States probes whether crypto platforms helped Iran evade sanctions

Redbord added that the U.S. Treasury is looking at whether crypto has helped state-linked actors move money abroad, access hard currency or procure goods. A Treasury spokesperson referred Reuters to a September statement about measures targeting shadow-banking networks that the department described as supporting Iran and using crypto to skirt sanctions. Redbord did not identify platforms under review, and Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment.

Blockchain analysts cited by Reuters estimated Iran-linked crypto activity reached roughly $8 billion to $10 billion in 2025 as both state-linked groups and retail users turned to digital assets. TRM Labs estimated about $10 billion of crypto activity in Iran in 2025 versus $11.4 billion in 2024. Chainalysis reported Iranian wallets received a record $7.8 billion in 2025, up from $7.4 billion in 2024 and $3.17 billion in 2023. The International Monetary Fund has noted crypto use is expected to grow in emerging markets with weak currencies, and Iran has faced a rapid devaluation of the rial while remaining largely cut off from the dollar-based system.

Researchers noted it is difficult to determine who is behind many transactions because wallet addresses are pseudonymous, and estimates of state-linked versus retail volumes vary widely. Chainalysis estimated about 50% of Iran’s volumes in 2025 were linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. TRM Labs estimated about 95% of Iran-linked flows come from retail investors, and added it has identified more than 5,000 addresses it labels as IRGC-linked and that the Guards have moved about $3 billion in crypto since 2023.

Elliptic wrote in January 2026 that the Central Bank of Iran acquired at least $507 million of the stablecoin USDT in 2025 in what it described as a strategy to bypass the global banking system. Reuters noted it could not independently verify the findings from Elliptic and other researchers. Tether, which issues USDT, stated it maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward criminal use of its tokens and works with law enforcement to identify and freeze assets linked to illegal activity.

Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, told Reuters that industry estimates suggest about 15 million people in Iran have some exposure to crypto and reported it has 11 million customers, with activity dominated by retail users. Nobitex noted crypto often functions as a store of value amid local currency depreciation. Singapore-based blockchain analytics firm Nansen reported some users pulled funds from Nobitex in 2025, with balances of major cryptocurrencies declining from a mid-year peak, and found hundreds of thousands of dollars transferred from Nobitex to international exchanges. Nobitex noted some customers may use crypto to transfer funds internationally but it does not track destinations, adding that many users moved assets to self-custodied wallets after an anti-Iranian hacking group breached the exchange in June 2025.