Crypto outflows from Iran’s largest exchange jumped 700% within minutes of the first U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said in a Monday blog post.
Elliptic said transaction volumes leaving Nobitex spiked almost immediately after the strikes, suggesting a rush to move funds offshore. Initial blockchain tracing indicates the crypto was sent to overseas exchanges that have historically received significant inflows from Iran.
The activity “potentially represents capital flight from Iran that bypasses the traditional banking system,” according to Dr. Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s co-founder and chief scientist.
Over the weekend, coordinated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes struck multiple targets in Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and escalating a wider Middle East conflict. The attacks stoked market volatility as investors priced in potential disruptions to oil supplies through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, sending global crude prices sharply higher and triggering broad sell-offs in equities and safe-haven buying across assets.
Nobitex allows users to convert Iranian rials into crypto and withdraw funds to external wallets, offering a route around traditional banking channels.
The exchange processed $7.2 billion in crypto transactions in 2025 and claims more than 11 million users, making it central to Iran’s digital asset ecosystem, Robinson said.
Elliptic has previously linked the exchange to IRGC-aligned financial activity and reported in January that Iran’s central bank appeared to use Nobitex in efforts to support the weakening rial.
Iran’s crypto ecosystem
Previous reports have detailed Iran’s growing use of cryptocurrencies as a hedge against a weakening rial and as a potential workaround to international sanctions, with U.S. authorities probing whether digital-asset platforms have enabled state-linked actors to move funds and access hard currency outside the traditional banking system. Blockchain research cited in those reports estimates that Iran-linked crypto activity has reached into the billions of dollars annually, spanning retail users as well as, according to officials, sanctioned entities.
Robinson also flagged additional surges in Iranian crypto outflows earlier this year. The largest came on Jan. 9, following widespread anti-regime demonstrations and a subsequent government-imposed internet blackout.
Two additional surges followed U.S. sanctions announcements targeting Iranian actors, the report said, suggesting crypto may be used to mitigate the impact of sanctions.
Bitcoin $BTC$65,525.47 and major altcoins dropped sharply in the immediate aftermath of the strikes, with $BTC briefly falling below $64,000 before recovering to the mid-$60,000s, underscoring crypto’s sensitivity to geopolitical tensions. Ether (ETH) and other tokens also declined, though several remained above pre-strike levels, pointing to a relatively swift rebound after the initial sell-off.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was over 2% lower at publication time, trading around $65,500. Ether, the second-largest crypto by market cap, was 3.8% lower at around $1,930.
Read more: Iran crisis puts the regime’s $7.8 billion crypto shadow economy in spotlight
