Chainalysis data show Iran's crypto economy processed about $7.78 billion in 2025. Bitcoin flows clustered around political unrest, cyber incidents, and a nationwide internet blackout. Inflation near 40–50 percent and a roughly 90 percent decline in the rial's value since 2018 drove civilian demand for Bitcoin for emergency savings, cross-border transfers, and flight capital. IRGC-linked wallets accounted for about half of the crypto value moving into Iran-linked clusters by Q4 2025 and moved more than $3 billion on-chain during 2025. On-chain flows and daily Bitcoin transactions spiked during protests and outages, and exchange outflows surged between December 28, 2025 and January 8, 2026 as users withdrew funds into personal wallets. Large retail withdrawals under $10,000 rose about 236 percent in value and 262 percent in transfers versus the late-fall baseline; average withdrawals under $1,000 rose about 228 percent in value and 123 percent in transactions; institutional-sized withdrawals under $100,000 rose about 32 percent in volume and 55 percent in transfers; small withdrawals under $100 rose about 111 percent in value and 78 percent in transfers. Addresses consolidated into self-custody and transfers prioritized spendable balances accessible during intermittent connectivity. Recommended actions for builders and exchanges include strengthening on-chain attribution and sanctions screening; implementing dynamic controls with clear appeal and remediation paths for crisis periods; building wallet features for offline signing, watch-only access, seed phrase safety, and modular custody that degrades under intermittent networks; formalizing incident playbooks and legal criteria for freezing or restricting flows; and pairing cross-border transfer features with sanctions-aware routing and enhanced KYC. Expect continued elevated flows concentrated around Bitcoin, increased regulator and investigator scrutiny, and pressure on global exchanges to refine controls while preserving access for users who rely on crypto to preserve value and access basic financial services.
Source: https://web3businessnews.com/crypto/iran-bitcoin-adoption-unrest-2025/
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