Mass Protests Fuel Iran’s Crypto Boom, Shattering $7.8 Billion Mark

The shift was sharp and sudden; many withdrawals moved from local exchanges into personal wallets as people looked for ways to safeguard savings.

Many Iranians chose self custody — sending crypto to private wallets rather than keeping it on exchanges — as the rial lost value and access to traditional finance tightened.

Inflation in the country was reported at about 40–50% in recent months, which helped push more households to seek alternatives for storing value.

Chainalysis data shows complexity in the flows. Addresses linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were tied to roughly half of the total crypto volume received in Iran during Q4 2025.

People acted quickly. When banks and payment systems were uncertain or blocked, crypto offered a way to move value across borders without the usual banking rails.

Some transfers were small. Others were larger, tied to families or businesses trying to protect capital. According to the sources, these spikes in activity coincided with other significant occurrences involving geopolitical crises and specific cyber attacks that contributed to the erosion of faith in the local infrastructure.

That pattern — brief but intense bursts of withdrawals — shows how people adapt quickly to changing conditions. It also explains why on-chain volume readings jumped so high in 2025.

The $7.78 billion number measures on-chain crypto volume tied to Iranian activity over the year, not the market value of holdings inside the country. Based on reports, that figure captures a mix of ordinary transfers, commercial activity, and movements linked to sanctioned entities.

Featured image from Stringer/Via Reuters, chart from TradingView