Outgoing crypto transactions from Iran’s largest exchange, Nobitex, surged 700% within minutes of coordinated U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran over the weekend, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
In a Monday blog post, Elliptic said transaction volumes leaving Nobitex spiked almost immediately after the first strikes, suggesting a rapid effort by users to move funds offshore. Initial blockchain tracing indicates that 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,” said Dr. Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s co-founder and chief scientist.
The airstrikes, which targeted multiple locations in Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, escalated tensions across the Middle East. Markets reacted sharply. Oil prices climbed on concerns about potential disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, while equities sold off and safe-haven assets drew demand.
Nobitex allows users to convert Iranian rials into cryptocurrency and withdraw funds to external wallets, providing a pathway outside traditional banking rails. According to Elliptic, the exchange processed $7.2 billion in crypto transactions in 2025 and claims more than 11 million users.
That scale makes Nobitex a core part of Iran’s digital-asset ecosystem. Elliptic has previously linked the exchange to financial activity aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and reported earlier this year that Iran’s central bank appeared to use Nobitex in efforts to support the weakening rial.
Iran’s broader crypto usage has been widely documented as both a hedge against currency depreciation and a potential workaround to international sanctions. U.S. authorities have examined whether digital-asset platforms have enabled state-linked actors to move funds and access hard currency outside the conventional banking system.
Elliptic noted that the weekend spike was not an isolated episode. The largest outflow surge this year occurred 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. The timing suggests that crypto may be used as a mechanism to reduce the immediate impact of sanctions or domestic instability by shifting capital beyond local controls.
Blockchain research cited in prior reports has estimated that Iran-linked crypto activity reaches into the billions of dollars annually, spanning both retail users and, according to officials, sanctioned entities.
Major cryptocurrencies fell sharply in the immediate aftermath of the strikes. Bitcoin briefly dropped below $64,000 before recovering into the mid-$60,000 range. At publication time, it was trading around $65,500, down more than 2% on the day.
Ether declined 3.8% to roughly $1,930, while several large-cap tokens also sold off before stabilizing above pre-strike levels. The move reflected crypto’s sensitivity to geopolitical risk, particularly when events intersect with energy markets and global liquidity conditions.
While the broader market reaction was swift, the rebound in prices suggests that traders treated the shock as acute rather than structural. The longer-term question for regulators and investors alike is whether platforms tied to sanctioned jurisdictions will face tighter oversight as blockchain data continues to reveal patterns of cross-border capital movement during crises.
