Russia and Iran Turn to Crypto and Stablecoins to Bypass Sanctions

Chainalysis reports state actors are moving large sums through cryptocurrency, with stablecoins dominating sanctions evasion and highlighting growing regulatory and enforcement concerns.

Rich by Coin

2026-01-08

Russia and Iran are increasingly turning to cryptocurrency—especially stablecoins—to avoid sanctions, according to Chainalysis’ Crypto Crime Report. In the last year, sanctioned entities, including Russia and Iran, received crypto at a 694% higher level. While nation-states have used cryptocurrency for years, the scale today is much larger, with states moving hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars through crypto, funded by hacking or fraud. Russia has advanced on-chain activity in recent years, enacting 2024 legislation permitting crypto for international payments in response to Western sanctions, and by February 2025 the ruble-backed A7A5 token recorded roughly $93 billion in on-chain transactions in less than a year.

Iran has made similar gains. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxy networks moved more than $2 billion on-chain for money laundering, illicit oil sales, and arms procurement. A large majority of crypto crime comes in the form of stablecoins, accounting for 84% of illicit transaction volume. Still, the illicit share of all crypto transaction volume remains below 1%.