A recent report by an Israeli news media disclosed intelligence revealing that Iran's senior leadership transferred $1.5 billion in assets abroad via cryptocurrency within just two days. Among this, the son of the Supreme Leader alone transferred $328 million to Dubai.
The background of this move is Iran facing severe internal and external pressures. Externally, after dealing with Venezuela, the Trump administration has turned its focus to Iran. Although recent military strikes have been temporarily paused, multiple sources indicate that the timing and scale of related action plans are still under close consultation within the administration and among allies.
Domestically, large-scale protests swept across the country starting late last December. Research data indicates that over 150 protest events occurred in a single day, affecting 27 provinces, with some areas even escalating into armed conflicts. Economically, the Iranian rial's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar collapsed to around 1.34 to 1.4 million to 1, inflation surged, and food prices rose by 60% to 70%. Rising fuel prices combined with prolonged sanctions have brought living conditions to the brink of collapse.
Using cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions is not a spontaneous move for Iran. Since the establishment of domestic exchanges in 2018, the state, government officials, and the Revolutionary Guard have systematically utilized this channel to access international markets. Additionally, Iran has been using surplus oil and energy resources for Bitcoin mining, converting natural resources into cryptocurrency assets.
According to a report by a U.S. media outlet about a week ago, Iran's Revolutionary Guard transferred cryptocurrency worth approximately $1 billion through two exchanges registered in the UK between 2023 and 2025. These transactions even accounted for 56% of the total trading volume on these two exchanges. A former U.S. Treasury official who previously worked on sanctions against Iran pointed out that digital currencies are becoming a key financial channel for Iran's shadow banking system.
At the grassroots level, private cryptocurrency exchange activities are also widespread. Field investigations have revealed a black market street stretching about one kilometer within Iran, where many citizens exchange cryptocurrencies for their local currency.
With recent large-scale capital outflows from senior officials, certain privacy-focused cryptocurrency tokens have experienced significant volatility in the market. $XMR reached an all-time high, briefly touching $800. $DASH rose over 120% in the past seven days, and $DCR increased nearly 70%. Other tokens such as $ZEN, $FHE, and $ARRR also saw notable gains.
Although there is no direct evidence linking these price increases to capital outflows from Iran, the temporal coincidence warrants attention from market participants. Currently, cryptocurrencies have become an important financial tool for many countries and organizations, and the ongoing turbulent international situation is likely to continue influencing market trends for a considerable period.
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