Millions of dollars in crypto left Iranian exchanges after strikes, researchers say

[PARIS] Outflows from Iranian crypto exchanges spiked in the hours after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday (Feb 28), two blockchain analytics companies said, although researchers added it was not possible to be certain what was behind the moves.

Funds leaving Iranian crypto exchanges jumped sharply to hit more than US$2 million in the hour after the strikes began, US blockchain research company Chainalysis said. Reuters’ first reports of the strikes were around 0615 GMT on Saturday.

British blockchain researchers Elliptic said that outflows from Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, peaked at US$2.89 million between 1100 and 1200 GMT on Saturday, a roughly eight-fold increase compared with the previous day’s peak hourly outflows.

Overall, crypto worth US$10.3 million left Iranian crypto exchanges between Saturday and Monday, Chainalysis said.

Nobitex was not available for comment.

Crypto’s growing role in Iran

The data gives a glimpse into the growing role of crypto in Iran, where activity tends to rise sharply after geopolitical shocks, blockchain researchers say.

While estimates can differ widely, researchers say crypto transaction volumes hit US$8 to US$11 billion in 2025, as state-linked actors and retail investors alike have turned to the digital currency. The United States is looking into whether specific crypto platforms have facilitated sanctions evasion by Iranian officials, Reuters reported in February.

Iranians have moved funds in response to rising risks

Crypto wallet addresses are pseudonymous, recorded on the blockchain as a string of letters and numbers, making it difficult to establish who is behind transactions. Chainalysis said that it was not clear who had moved funds in the last few days or why.

“Some of these flows are almost certainly ordinary Iranians moving funds in response to rising risk,” Chainalysis said. “Others may be exchanges reshuffling liquidity or attempting to reduce the visibility of their operations on-chain, or state-aligned actors leveraging mainstream platforms to transfer funds.”

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Elliptic said that initial tracing suggested the funds were being sent to overseas crypto exchanges, and “potentially represents capital flight from Iran”. Another US blockchain research firm, TRM, said that the flows at Nobitex were “more indicative of activity under stress than evidence of systemic capital flight”.

Cryptocurrencies remain a small part of the global financial system, but their use is expected to grow in emerging markets with weak currencies, the International Monetary Fund has said. REUTERS