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How US and Iran are playing a crypto cat-and-mouse game over sanctions

Al Jazeera · · 1207 words · By Virginia Pietromarchi
Geopolitical Conflict Cryptocurrency Utility Sanctions Evasion
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/29/how-us-and-iran-are-playing-a-crypto-ca…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Oversimplification 70% confidence
Reducing a complex issue to a simplistic framing that distorts understanding.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

14 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 7
schedule Pending 4
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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“Nobitex – Iran’s largest digital asset platform”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources (TRM Labs, and two other reports) explicitly identify Nobitex as Iran's largest digital asset platform/cryptocurrency exchange.
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web search NEUTRAL — Nobitex is Iran’s largest digital asset platform and the central hub of the country’s crypto ecosystem, with approximately USD 5 billion in observed volume from 2025 to the present.
https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/intel-library/nobitex
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web search NEUTRAL — On June 18, 2025, Iranian cryptocurrency platform, Nobitex, was exploited, resulting in the loss of more than $90 million in assets spanning a range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, D…
https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/nobitex-iranian-exchange-ex…
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web search NEUTRAL — The platform is Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, claiming to support more than 11 million users, and has become the dominant venue for digital asset trading in the country.
https://www.elliptic.co/blog/inside-nobitex-how-irans-larges…
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“Iran’s crypto ecosystem was valued at more than $7.78bn last year, growing at a faster pace compared with 2024, according to crypto transaction monitoring firm Chainalysis.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web search results confirm that Chainalysis valued Iran's crypto ecosystem at $7.78 billion in 2025 and noted it grew faster than in 2024.
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web search NEUTRAL — Iran’s crypto ecosystem reached over $7.78 billion in 2025, having grown at a faster pace for most of the year compared to the year prior. Iranian cryptocurrency activity is correlated to political ev…
https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/iranian-crypto-activity-geo…
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web search NEUTRAL — Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis found that Iran’s crypto ecosystem reached $7.78 billion in 2025, growing faster than the year before.
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/02/28/iran-conflict-t…
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web search NEUTRAL — Iran’s crypto ecosystem was valued at more than $7.78 billion last year, growing faster than in 2024, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps now accounts for half of all on-chain activity.
https://www.tradingview.com/news/cryptonews:bfb46f95f094b:0-…
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“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accounted for about 50 percent of on-chain activity in the fourth quarter”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources confirm the IRGC's significant role, with one specifically stating they accounted for about 50% of the virtual asset ecosystem as of the fourth quarter of last year.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also actively uses cryptocurrencies to finance its activities both within Iran and through a network of affiliated structures across the Middle East.
https://getblock.net/en/research/iranians-are-withdrawing-cr…
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web search NEUTRAL — As of the fourth quarter of last year, IRGC accounted for about 50% of Iran's total virtual asset ecosystem. The amount of funds flowing into IRGC-related wallets surpassed $2 billion in 2024, followe…
https://www.mk.co.kr/en/stock/12014996
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web search NEUTRAL — Focus on the "safe-haven" topic, ChainCatcher gathers global cryptocurrency market dynamics, project progress, and investment trends to help you gain insights into industry opportunities and grasp fir…
https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/tags/safe-haven
info
“In early April, Iranian authorities said they would ask oil ships seeking passage through the Strait of Hormuz to pay a toll in cryptocurrency.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results provided for this claim are completely irrelevant, discussing Korean infrastructure stocks (Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund) instead of Iranian oil ships or cryptocurrency tolls.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 3, 2026 · 현재 주가는 11,290원입니다. 실시간 차트, 최신 뉴스, AI 분석 및 더 많은 정보를 알파스퀘어에서 확인해보세요.
https://alphasquare.co.kr/home/stock-summary?code=088980
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web search NEUTRAL — May 25, 2010 · 맥쿼리인프라의 주가, 088980 주식, 차트, 기술적 분석, 실적 자료 등 11,290로 거래를 마감한 맥쿼리한국인프라투융자회사 시세에 대한 자세한 정보를 확인해 보세요. 오늘의 시세뿐만 아니라 뉴스와 분석, 재정 상황, 포럼 등도 확인해 보세요.
https://kr.investing.com/equities/macq-kor-infr
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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 19, 2025 · 최근 맥쿼리인프라 주주님들, 배당금이 예전만 못하다는 소식에 마음 한구석이 무거우셨죠? 유상증자 소식까지 겹치며 "계속 들고 가도 될까" 고민이 많으셨을 텐데요. 하지만 차트를 들여다보면 바닥을 다지는 끈끈한 에너지가 느껴집니다.
https://extract.tistory.com/55
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“the US announced sanctions on a network of Iran-linked crypto wallets, freezing $344m in digital assets”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the US sanctioned Iran-linked wallets and that Tether froze approximately $344 million ($213M + $131M) in assets.
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web search NEUTRAL — US sanctions wallets tied to Iran, freezing $344 million in cryptocurrency, Bessent says. 24 Apr. Save for later.
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZj…
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web search NEUTRAL — The two wallets Tether froze on Thursday were regularly active years ago, Chainlysis told CNN. One of the Tron addresses held roughly $213 million in USDT while the other held $131 million. They were …
https://www.theblock.co/post/398847/us-sanctions-iran-linked…
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web search NEUTRAL — When credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks are identified, we act immediately and decisively.” Tether said it has frozen more than $4.4 billion in assets overall, including over $…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-sanctions-iran-linked…
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“the rial, which has lost about 90 percent of its value since 2018.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and news reports, confirm the Iranian rial has lost approximately 90% of its value since 2018.
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web search NEUTRAL — While the average inflation rate over the past few years has remained above 40%, and the Iranian rial has lost approximately 90% of its value since US sanctions were re-imposed on Iran in 2018...
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202410180472
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web search NEUTRAL — By June 2020, the Iranian rial had fallen nearly five-fold since the beginning of 2018, contributing to the record inflation. Reason cited by analysts is the fact that the government has been printing…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_rial
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web search NEUTRAL — The rial has lost over 90% of its value since 2018, driving inflation so high that families can’t afford bread or medicine. Power outages plague cities as energy imports stall, and hospitals limp alon…
https://medium.com/the-justice-report/do-whatever-the-hell-y…
info
“the US enforcement agency, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), classified Iran’s entire crypto ecosystem as high-risk.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided search results are general Wikipedia entries about the United States and Reuters headlines, providing no information regarding OFAC's classification of Iran's crypto ecosystem.
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web search NEUTRAL — The three largest airlines in the world, by total number of passengers carried, are U.S.-based; American Airlines became the global leader after its 2013 merger with US Airways. [405]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
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web search NEUTRAL — The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S. or US) or colloquially as America, is a country that is mainly in North America. It is made of 50 states, 1 federal district (…
https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
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web search NEUTRAL — 1 day ago · Reuters.com is your online source for the latest US news stories and current events, ensuring our readers up to date with any breaking news developments
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/
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“Between February 28 – when joint US-Israel strikes hit Iran – and March 2, monitoring crypto groups detected about $10.3m in cryptoasset outflow, a separate Chainalysis report said.”
CORROBORATED
A Chainalysis report specifically mentions $10.3M in cryptoasset outflows between February 28 and March 2 following US-Israeli airstrikes in 2026.
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web search NEUTRAL — On-chain data shows a sharp increase in activity from major Iranian exchanges in the hours following the February 28, 2026 US-Israeli airstrikes, with roughly $10.3M in cryptoasset outflows between Fe…
https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/iranian-crypto-outflows-spi…
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web search NEUTRAL — Chainalysis helps government agencies, cryptocurrency businesses, and financial institutions engage confidently with cryptocurrency.
https://www.chainalysis.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — On March 28, Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked Israel with a barrage of ballistic missiles in their first such strikes since the beginning of the US-Israel war on Iran. Most of these attacks have been in…
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/1/us-israel-attacks-on…
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“Before Israel’s 12-day war in June 2025, crypto crime monitoring group TRM Labs identified a more than 150 percent spike in outflows from Nobitex.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the search results to support or refute the claim regarding TRM Labs and a 150% spike in Nobitex outflows in June 2025.
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“The platform [Nobitex] has more than 11 million users”
CORROBORATED
One of the web search results for claim 0 explicitly mentions that Nobitex claims to support more than 11 million users. While the evidence was listed under claim 0, it directly verifies claim 9.
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“Within minutes of the first US-Israeli attack last June, outgoing transaction volumes from Nobitex surged by 700 percent, said Elliptic”
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“On June 18, $90m in cryptoassets stored in Nobitex were stolen in a cyberattack widely attributed to the Israel-linked group Predatory Sparrow.”
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“the Central Bank of Iran bought last year more than $500m in USDT, the US dollar-backed stablecoin, according to a January report by Elliptic.”
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“OFAC in January sanctioned two UK-registered companies, Zedcex and Zedxion, that were operating as unauthorised crypto exchanges.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.