An internal cyber intelligence report says Iran’s cryptocurrency infrastructure tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continued to operate during the country’s nationwide internet blackout following the February 28 strikes, enabling hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto to move out of the country. Omri Raiter, founder of RAKIA, said the activity began within hours of the conflict and expanded from tens of millions to hundreds of millions. RAKIA’s analysis found wallets linked to the IRGC received more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025.
Chainalysis data cited by RAKIA estimates Iran’s cryptocurrency ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in activity in 2025. The U.S. Treasury had sanctioned cryptocurrency exchanges tied to Iranian actors, marking an effort to disrupt Tehran’s digital asset networks. The report argues that the IRGC has financed proxy operations through the same crypto corridors sanctions were designed to shut down, highlighting the resilience of crypto channels under pressure.
RAKIA researchers said activity continued even after Iran imposed a sweeping internet shutdown. They detected more than 1,100 active cryptocurrency nodes operating inside Iran, with most nodes clustered in the Tehran–Qom corridor. Taken together, the findings point to a crypto-based financial infrastructure capable of operating under heavy sanctions and communications outages, aiding both proxy funding and wealth protection.
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