Iran's encrypted "shadow economy" reaches $7.78 billion, as the public turns to Bitcoin for hedging

According to Coindesk, blockchain analysis company Chainalysis stated that Iran's cryptocurrency ecosystem will reach $7.78 billion by 2025, with a growth rate exceeding the previous year.

Iran legalized cryptocurrency mining in 2019, allowing licensed operators to use subsidized electricity and sell the mined bitcoins to the central bank. Recent estimates suggest that Iran accounts for between 2% and 5% of the global bitcoin mining hash rate. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as the country's main military force, has since deepened its influence in the cryptocurrency sector.

Chainalysis estimates that by the fourth quarter of 2025, addresses associated with the IRGC will account for over 50% of Iran's total cryptocurrency inflows, with amounts received last year exceeding $3 billion. Another analysis by Elliptic found that the Central Bank of Iran had accumulated at least $507 million in USDT by 2025, which could help stabilize the rial exchange rate and facilitate trade. However, this effort has largely failed, with data showing that the rial has depreciated by more than 96% against the dollar. Meanwhile, ordinary Iranians have begun to turn to bitcoin. During recent protests and internet outages, the amount of bitcoin withdrawn from local exchanges to personal wallets surged dramatically.