IRGC Used $2 Billion in Crypto-Illicit Transactions Hit $154 Billion in 2025
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has moved more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency, dodging US sanctions and financing...
Quick overview
- Iran's IRGC has moved over $2 billion in cryptocurrency to evade US sanctions and finance cyber activities.
- Illicit crypto activity globally surged by 162% last year, reaching a record $154 billion.
- Russia is the largest contributor to illicit crypto transactions, largely due to the A7A5 stablecoin, which accounts for $93 billion.
- North Korea's hackers stole at least $2 billion in crypto last year, highlighting the growing sophistication of cybercrime.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has moved more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency, dodging US sanctions and financing various cyber activities, according to Chainalysis, a firm that tracks blockchain activity. The figure is a good indicator of how much they’ve been moving but it likely they’ve actually moved a lot more than that. As the rest of the world tightens up on traditional banking links for sanctioned countries & their pals, they’re increasingly turning to these underground networks to swap cash around with a bit of discretion.
Chainalysis found this isnt an isolated incident – in fact, the scale of illicit crypto activity globally has increased by a whopping 162% last year, reaching a staggering $ 154 billion, the highest on record. Iran’s growing use of digital assets is part of a broader trend: many other sanctioned economies are getting into crypto because they’re looking for a way to be a bit more independent of the dollar.
Russia and North Korea Fuel Growth
The place where the really big money was made – Russia. Theyre responsible for the single biggest chunk of illicit crypto activity – and that is thanks to a new stablecoin called A7A5 that lets Russians peg their rubles to the crypto market. Transactions linked to this token alone are worth at least $ 93 billion. And thats led to a huge jump in the amount of sanctioned countries using crypto – almost 7 times more
North Korea are still quite the cyber threat – their hackers made off with at least two billion dollars worth of stolen crypto last year. Theyre getting better at what they do, and the way they launder their money is getting more sophisticated – which is a real concern for exchanges and platforms everywhere.
🌍 Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) may be playing a key role in Iran’s unrest.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard reportedly moved $1B through crypto exchanges to evade sanctions while the rial crashed to 1.42M per USD, down 40% since June 2025. Ordinary citizens suffer as crypto is used… pic.twitter.com/CzMDav8But
— Quant Data (@QuantData) January 9, 2026
Crime Networks Go Professional
China brought a new development to the table in 2025 – Chinese money laundering networks, or CMLNs, aren’t just individual crooks anymore – theyre big organisations that are making a business out of cleaning dirty cash – and they are servicing all sorts of crimes, from fraud to human trafficking.
Chainalysis also said that they noticed a link between digital assets and some pretty nasty things – like human trafficking & violent crime. And the scary thing is that even though these bad transactions are still only a small fraction of the total, theyre having a significant impact.
Key 2025 crypto crime statistics:
- Total illicit crypto transactions were $154B worldwide
- Crypto crime went up by 162% last year
- $93B tied to Russia’s A7A5 stablecoin
- $2B stolen by hackers linked to North Korea
- $2B+ moved by Iran’s IRGC using crypto
This really highlights a serious challenge for regulators – how to keep the good from the bad in the world of digital finance.
The findings are a serious warning to those in charge that they need to keep up with the pace of innovation or else criminal networks might take advantage of the chaos and end up with a parallel system for all their nefarious activities.
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